


The Power of Seven: Missing in Action

by Kihonne



Series: Heroes in the Making: An Elite Force [14]
Category: Lab Rats (TV 2012), Lab Rats: Elite Force (TV), Mighty Med
Genre: Action/Adventure, Bionic Superhumans, Dating, F/F, F/M, Family, Kidnapping, Magic, Marriage, Pregnancy, Romance, Superheroes, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2020-01-06 00:22:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 114,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18377108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kihonne/pseuds/Kihonne
Summary: When two of their superheroes turn up missing, the New League of Heroes turns to the Elite Force for help finding them. But when they discover that even more of their friends have gone missing, things turn personal. Together, can they find their missing friends? And can they handle the force that's taken them, a villain more powerful than anyone they've ever faced?





	1. Missing

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own mighty med, lab rats, or the elite force, or anything from the original TV shows. I only own this story, Calla, Dani, Jaden, any other OCs present, and anything else you don't recognize.

**Kaz's POV**

_"So what about Thursday?"_  Skylar's voice echoed in my ear, coming in through the comms. I didn't answer right away, instead leaping off the edge of the bridge. I flew downwards, the wind rushing past my face as I reached out, desperately trying to catch the girl who'd fallen. I grabbed ahold of her wrist, wincing when she cried out at the sudden stop, then flew us back into the air.

"Guys, we need to get this thing under control!" I called as I gently dropped the girl onto the road near the bridge. Above us, the ropes of the support bridge were beginning to snap, one by one.

 _"We're working on it!"_  Chase snapped irritably.  _"Setting this thing up isn't exactly easy, Kaz!"_

 _"Thursday works for me, Skylar!"_  Oliver told his girlfriend. I could see him hovering near one of the towers of the support bridge, a tiny flying figure. The silhouette of Chase's body could just be seen as well, standing on the top of the tower as he tried to rig up one of Calla's latest inventions.

"Guys, focus! This thing's going to come down any minute!" Bree shouted, speeding past me as she collected several more people off the bridge. As if to prove her point, the bridge shook violently, threatening to fall apart any second.

 _"It's set up. I don't get why it's not working!"_  Chase snapped.

 _"Give it a second."_ Calla reassured him. Even through the comms, I could hear her typing away at her laptop from the safety of the Penthouse.  _"I sent the codes. It just needs to receive them."_

 _"Well, it's taking too-"_  Jaden stopped himself midsentence as Calla's device came to life and several razor-thin, but extremely strong, plasma ropes burst from the device at the top of the bridge tower. They flew downwards, tying themselves around the ends of the snapped wires, pulling back just enough to level the bridge. The entire bridge stopped shaking as balance was returned to the structure.  _"Never mind."_

 _"Told you it'd work."_  Calla teased lightly, pride in her tone.

 _"Shut up, CeeCee."_  Jaden grumbled. I heard her laugh in the background.

 _"Just get back here."_  She instructed, amused.

**Xxx**

"You know, maybe a mission isn't the best place to discuss when everyone's available for a group date?" Calla questioned as we walked back into the penthouse, giving us all exasperated looks. She was holding four-month-old Noah in her arms, the baby clutching a stuffed caterpillar in his chubby hands.

"Really? I thought it was the perfect time." I replied, walking past her into the kitchen. She rolled her eyes, handing Noah off to Bree.

"He missed you." She told her sister-in-law as Noah grabbed at his mother's hair. Bree chuckled, using her free hand to brush her hair behind her head as she balanced her son against her chest.

"No, bug." She shook her head at him, smiling affectionately. "Thanks for babysitting."

"Anytime. He's a good kid." Calla assured her.

"Ten bucks says your kid is the more difficult one." Oliver teased Chase, smirking.

"I'll take that bet!" I called to him. "No way their kid was anything but a goody-two-shoes."

Chase looked between us. "I feel like I should be offended, but I'm not sure by who."

A few of us laughed at that, just as Calla's phone rang. She frowned when she saw who it was. "It's the Academy. I've gotta take this."

She walked out of the room, answering the call. "Kieran and Taylor still AWOL?" Jaden guessed, walking past me to get started on lunch.

"Yeah. It's been two weeks now. Rio's freaking." Chase agreed. I nodded thoughtfully, understanding. Her brother and his girlfriend disappeared a couple of weeks ago after a mission, and normally, that would make them subject to numerous jokes about running off and eloping, except for the fact that Rio couldn't even contact her twin telepathically. There was very little in the world that could block a telepathic link, and none of them were good. "The problem is, everyone at the Academy is searching for them, which isn't good because we need them on missions worldwide, and the trail's gone cold as it is."

"Are you guys going to help them search?" Skylar asked, handing Jaden a tubaware of sliced ham from the fridge.

"Well, MISS is already actively searching for their GPS. If it pops up anywhere, then we'll know." Bree replied, sitting down on the couch. "If nothing's turned up in another week or so, we'll head down there, but I'm not really sure what else we can do."

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Oliver reasoned. "I mean, there ARE a few spots on the planet that are like dead zones where powers don't work. For all we know, they're just taking a vacation and don't realize they're in one."

"You really believe that?" Skylar questioned.

"…No, not at all. I'm just trying to be optimistic." He admitted.

"Thanks man." Chase patted his shoulder before grabbing his and Calla's lunches. "I've got work to do."

"And I have a shift at Mighty Med." Oliver added, glancing at his watch. He kissed Skylar on the cheek. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. Bree and I were going to go shopping." She replied, glancing at her friend. Bree nodded.

"I need a new outfit." She shrugged, before smiling at Noah.

"And diapers." Jaden added. We glanced at him. "He is a poop machine."

"He's not wrong." Bree agreed, adjusting her hold on Noah as she carried him over to his strolled, set to the side by the door. "C'mon, bug, let's go to the mall."

"Bye." We waved at Skylar, Bree, Noah, and Oliver as they headed out the door. When they were gone, I looked at Jaden.

"I've got that new Overwatch game if you want to play." I offered.

"Sweet!" He grinned, hopping the couch. I laughed and plopped down beside him.

**Xxx**

At first, I wasn't sure what had woken me. One minute, I was dreaming some odd dream involving football and dragons – I couldn't remember it exactly, but I knew it had been awesome – and the next, I was sitting up in bed, my hair standing on end. For a brief moment, I wondered if my dream had turned nightmarish and I just couldn't remember it, but then Oliver's voice whispered in the darkness of our room, "you heard that too, right?"

"Uh…maybe?" I replied, rolling over in the bed to switch on my bedside lap. "I don't know, but  _something_  woke me up."

"It sounded like someone was downstairs." Oliver mentioned, sliding out of bed.

"Maybe it was Chase?" I suggested. It wouldn't be the first time this week he'd been sent out in the middle of the night to get Calla some midnight snack. Ever since her cravings started to hit, he'd usually be going out at least once a week, if not twice.

"May-" Oliver cut off as a loud clatter came from the floor below, along with a muffled curse. We couldn't quite make out the voice itself, but I had a feeling it wasn't one of us. "I don't think that was Chase."

"Neither do I." I climbed out of bed and followed him out the door. I glanced at the other bedroom doors, half-expecting them to open up. But Calla and Chase's bedroom was the farthest from the stairs, and even from here, I could hear Skylar's loud snores through her door, so it was entirely likely that none of them had heard anything. "Let's check it out." I whispered to Oliver. There was no need to wake the others in case it was nothing.

Oliver and I quietly moved along the hallway, keeping our footsteps light as we stepped down the stairs. We stopped a couple of steps away from the floor. It was the perfect vantage point; we couldn't be seen because of the way the wall turned, but we could get a pretty good view of the living room. From here, we could see three shadows on the moonlight bathed floor, though only one of the people were in view. Her back was turned to us, but we could tell that she was wearing all black, head to toe.

She must be a robber! Were they really stealing from us?

I glanced at Oliver, then nodded my head towards the girl, motioning that I'd take her out if he took out her two partners. Judging by their shadows, they were near the entrance to the veranda, and Oliver's powers were always better at incapacitating from a distance. My best friend nodded and raised three fingers. He slowly counted down, dropping a finger each second, and the moment his fist closed completely, we attacked.

We both lunged out at the same time, Oliver raising his hand to cryoblast the intruders while I leaped to tackle the nearest girl. But in a split second, before either of us could get an attack off, something dark and heavy slammed into both of us, sending us crashing into the wall behind us. The weight that had hit us didn't let up, instead pinning us into the wall.

"Rani!" An Irish accent scolded in the darkness, just as heavy footsteps came from the second-floor hallway. A second later, Calla, Chase, and Skylar came running down the stairs, ready for a fight, and the lights turned on.

Wincing at the sudden brightness burning my retinas, I turned my face downwards, choosing to focus instead on the three 'intruders'. Alivia McLean was standing near the fireplace, pinching the bridge of her nose, already looking like she was regretting whatever crazy idea had brought them here, while Rani Shore stood near the stairs, exactly where she'd been when I tried to tackle her.

"Rani, put them down." There, standing by the light switch, stood Oliver's own sister, Dani Short.

God, how long had it been since we'd last seen her? More than a year, I thought, not since the morning after we'd put her Mom in prison. She'd changed her hair again, I noticed – it was short again, back in her old angled-bob style, but blonde with red highlights – and she looked…I don't know, different and the same at the same time? I wasn't sure what to call it, really. But it wasn't a bad thing, I knew that.

"Fine." Rani sighed dramatically in response to Dani's order. Suddenly, the dark weight – a physical shadow she must have projected – disappeared and Oliver and I dropped to the ground. "But it's their fault for attacking us. What the hell guys?"

"What the…" Oliver trailed off, staring at her. "You broke into our apartment! At two in the morning!"

"Semantics." Rani shrugged, unbothered by the accusation.

"Oh my god, this is not how you ask for help." Alivia sighed deeply, already done with Rani's troublemaking. We all exchanged looks.

"Help?" Chase repeated. The girls looked at each other.

"We've got problems." Dani announced after a moment.

**Dani's POV**

"Thanks," Alivia offered Calla a grateful smile as the genius handed out steaming mugs of coffee. I nodded at her, though Rani ignored her mug completely, instead choosing to pace behind the couch, impatient.

"Alright, I'm here." Bree walked into the penthouse. "Jaden's staying behind to watch Noah…Dani?"

"Hey." I greeted. Bree frowned, deeply confused.

"What's going on?" She asked, looking around at everyone.

"We were waiting for you." Chase replied before looking at Alivia. "Alright, what's the problem?"

"Some of our heroes have gone missing. We think they've been kidnapped, and that they were targeted." The red-head stated. She glanced at her hands. "They've taken Spotlight and the Scarlet Ace."

They all exchanged looks. "And before you ask, we're sure they were taken." Rani added, pausing in her pacing to cross her arms before continuing.

"How do you know they were taken?" Skylar asked. Alivia, Rani, and I all looked at her. "I'm not implying that they ran off or anything, but it wouldn't be the first time a hero's gone solo to take on a bad guy on their own."

I couldn't tell if that was an intentional dig at me or not, but nevertheless, it still hurt. "I think what Skylar's trying is ask is what proof do you have that they were taken?" Ollie asked. I gave him a small, grateful smile.

"The same people tried to take Tempest. He's one of our new recruits, only been a hero about a year now." I explained. "He was attacked by a group of masked goons out near Kansas while working a solo mission. They attempted to render him unconscious rather than take him out. He just barely made it out of there."

"This was only about a week or so after Lily disappeared. Liam went AWOL about two weeks before that." Alivia added. Calla frowned deeply, then stood up.

"Excuse me." She told us, her phone already in her hand as she stepped out on the veranda. Through her black tank top, I could see her stomach protruding. Not all that much, but enough to notice that something had changed. My guess, based off the stomach and the fact that literally everyone was drinking coffee but her, was that she was a few months pregnant. Had the circumstances not been what they were, I would have been happy for her.

"What's that about?" Rani questioned suspiciously. Chase craned his neck to get a better look at his wife, who, despite it being nearly three in the morning, was speaking with someone on the phone.

"I think I know, but I'll let her explain it." He replied. He looked at back at us. "Is this the first time something like this has happened? Don't you have ways to track where your guys are in case of an emergency?"

"Of course we do." Alivia snapped, taking his comments as a judgement. "But the GPS trackers in their suits went offline when they disappeared."

"And for some reason, my magic can't find them." Rani added. Chase frowned.

"Your magic?" He questioned.

"It's a long story." Kaz told him, a bit of a smirk on his lips. I smiled too, remembering how Chase reacted to finding out that aliens were real. Explaining that magic was as well would be an interesting venture to say the least.

"Look, I'm one of the best trackers in the League, second only to Lily." Rani told him, finally done pacing and now leaned on the back of the couch, her fists tightening in the cushions. "If I can't find them, something is seriously wrong."

"We believe you." Ollie assured her. "What do you need from us?"

Before Alivia could answer, Calla walked back into the room, a concerned look on her face. "I think they took Kieran and Taylor too." She announced. I frowned, recognizing the names as some of their bionic friends. "They went missing around the same time. We just thought they were goofing around or got lost or something, but now…"

"They may have been taken along with Liam and Lily." I realized. She nodded.

"Okay, they're definitely targeting people with abilities." Skylar frowned. "But why?"

"We have no idea." I replied. "We just know that they're taking our people. And that we need to find them."

"Absolutely." Chase nodded in agreement. Calla crossed her arms.

"Why don't you give me all the information you do have?" She offered. "I can relay it to our AI, and from there she can try to triangulate where they may have been taken from, or even taken too, and see if the MO matches any known criminals."

"What databases do you have access to?" Alivia questioned, standing up.

"Pretty much every one in the US. Chase, Bree, and I made a few high-positioned contacts back when the government got involved in the bionics program, and I had one of them set me up as a favor." She explained. Alivia nodded, impressed.

"Alright, sure. Sounds good." She paused, glancing at us. "You guys don't mind if we stay for a day or two, right?"

"Mi casa es tu casa." Bree replied. Everyone but Alivia, Rani, and I turned to look at her.

"You don't live here." Kaz stated, confused. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Su casa es tu casa." She corrected herself. I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Uh, well, the guest room is not the baby room, but the couch in there is a pullout." Calla offered. "Aside from that, Davenport's room has a pretty nice king-size in there, and he hasn't stayed here in a few months, so it's all yours."

"And your bed is the way you left it." Skylar added, looking at me. I nodded at that.

"Thank you." I told them, sincerely. Calla started to lead Alivia towards the hidden elevator, clearly intending to get MISS working on the information, but paused before she opened it.

"Hey, one question." She turned around.

"Why'd we show up at 2 in the morning?" Rani guessed.

"Yeah." Kaz raised an eyebrow at that.

"Well,  _somebody_  was in charge of figuring out what time zone difference was so we could come at a decent hour, but  _somebody_  majorly screwed that up." She declared.

"That somebody was you, wasn't it?" Bree questioned, glancing at me. I nodded, smiling guiltily, and she sighed. "Nice to see you again, Dani."

**Kaz's POV**

In the end, no one ended up getting any sleep, all of us a little too preoccupied with the fact that four of our friends had been kidnapped to get any shut eye. Instead, Calla, Chase, and Alivia had spent the night in the lab going over the details we had on each kidnapping – there weren't many – to see if there were any similarities or connections – there weren't any. Skylar and I had worked the phones for over an hour, getting a hold of every hero, bionic or super, that wasn't already aware to both warn them and to see if they'd heard anything that might help. Oliver and Rani had gone to Mighty Med 2.0. to let Horace know what was going on, while Bree had caught Dani up on everything she'd missed over the past year, up until an hour ago when she went back to her place for a change of clothes.

"We have coffee and a baby!" Jaden announced, walking into the penthouse alongside Bree. True to his word, he was carrying a couple of trays of drinks, while Bree carried Noah in in one of those baby carrier baskets.

"All of it is two milk, two sugar." Bree added, more for our guest's benefit than ours. "Decaf for Calla, and tea for Rani."

"You remembered, thank you." Rani nodded at them appreciatively, taking her drink. Jaden grabbed a tray and headed for the elevator, probably to bring some down to Alivia and the nerds. Noticing that Dani was over in the kitchen, I grabbed a couple of paper cups and walked over.

"Here." I handed her a coffee. She looked up at me and smiled, taking it. "So…"

"So…" She smirked a little.

"You're back." I mentioned. She nodded.

"For a couple of days, yeah." She agreed, glancing at her drink. I let out a slow breath, then looked up at me. "Hey, I…"

"You…what?" I asked. She bit her lip, then turned back to look at the fridge.

"What is this?" She asked, gesturing at the small whiteboard that had been hanging on the fridge for the past couple of months. It was split into two sections, with about half a dozen names on each. The names on the left were all written in blue, while the ones on the right were in red.

"Oh, Calla and Chase had everyone, including themselves, pick a couple of baby names for them to choose between. Then when the baby comes, they'll choose their favorite." I explained. "They put their own ideas up there, but last time I talked to Chase, they were leaning a little closer to Skylar's suggestions."

"No, I guessed that. I mean this." She pointed at one of the red names, sitting snugly between Calla and Bree's suggestions of Quinn and Grace. I chuckled when I saw it. "Who suggested 'Hot Dog' as a baby's name?"  **(1)**

"What? Tofu Pop didn't have the same ring to it." I insisted. She laughed.

"I should have guessed. I mean, your suggestion if it ends up being a boy is 'Kaz Junior'." She teased.

"Actually, that was Oliver's. My idea was Bradley." I replied. She looked at me, smiling as she tried to figure out if I was joking or not. I opened my mouth to reassure her that I was, but before I could, my phone rang.

I glanced at the caller ID, then back at the rest of the team, before deciding that what we were dealing with was too important to get distracted. "Do you need to get that?" Dani inquired. I shook my head and sent the call to voicemail, promising myself I'd call her back later.

"Nah, it's fine." I replied. She looked at me, a peculiar expression on her face.

"Is that…Jessica?" She asked slowly. I looked at her, surprised. "Ollie told me." Traitor. "Hey, don't not take the call on my account. I don't mind, really."

"Nah, I can call her later. Besides, by the looks of them," I gestured to Chase and Alivia, who were bent over a holographic map and speaking to each other in quick, low voices, "we might be on the move soon."

"Okay." She nodded thoughtfully. "I just…I didn't want it to be because of me. Because of…us. Or whatever."

"No." I shook my head. "No. I-I was going to tell you, I just…"

Before I could finish, I was cut off. "Mister Chase would like if all members of the team would join him, Miss Calla, and Miss Alivia down in Mission Command." MISS interrupted us, suddenly. "This includes Miss Dani and Miss Rani."

"Maybe they should name their baby Miss, as a joke." I suggested. Dani rolled her eyes and headed towards the elevator.

**Xxx**

"Okay, this is what we know." Calla declared as we all gathered around the holo-table in the middle of Mission Command. "Liam disappeared first, about four weeks ago, on his way back to the NLH base from Tampa Bay. Two weeks after that, Lily disappeared, near the Canadian border." She gestured at the holographic map, the area lighting up as she spoke. "Kieran and Taylor were taken from just outside of Fresno a week later, and Tempest was attacked at the state line between Kansas and Colorado a couple of days after that."

"Essentially, we know that they're operating out of the US, but they don't seem to have a specific hunting zone."

"Do we know anything about them at all?" Skylar questioned.

"Yeah, that's a no." Chase replied, only to receive a response of groans and annoyed grumbles. "However, we think we've managed to narrow down the exact locations where Liam and Lily were taken from."

"And that helps us how?" Rani questioned irritably.

"We might be able to find something that'll lead us to their kidnappers. Or at the very least, we might be able to find some forensics that'll give us information on the kidnappers that we can use." Calla explained.

"That sounds stupid." Rani replied. "I mean, it's been weeks; there's not going to be anything left to collect."

"Have you never seen a cop show? There'll be stuff." Dani insisted. Rani rolled her eyes. "When we get back home, I'm making you watch a cop show marathon."

"No." Rani retorted.

"Too late, we're doing it." Dani smirked triumphantly and turned back to Alivia, Chase, and Calla. "You were saying?"

"The plan is, we break into two teams, each take a location, then compare what we find." Alivia announced. "Oliver and Bree, you two, along with Dani and I, are going to check out Lily's last known coordinates. Rani, you're going to go with Jaden, Skylar, Kaz and Chase to check out Liam's."

"I'm going to be running Mission Command to make comparisons easier." Calla added.

"Look, hopefully, we'll be able to get enough from the scenes of the crime to find our guys, so don't screw this up, alright?" Chase added.

"Yes sir." I mock saluted him. He gave me a look. "I mean, let's do this!"

**Dani's POV**

"Alright, this should be the spot." Ollie announced as we reached the coordinates – a tiny walk path behind a coffee shop.

"Yeah, this is definitely the place." I agreed, looking over the area. There had definitely been a fight here – there was a broken fence on one side of the path, a massive dent in the dumpster, and, most concerningly, some sort of weird burn in the ground. It had burned away a small patch where grass met the asphalt, and left a weird, faded, blue-ish stain on the path.

"What in the world could have done this?" Bree questioned, bending down next to the stain and gesturing at it.

"It looks almost like someone spilled battery acid." I commented.

"If it were battery acid, it'd be orange, not blue." Ollie frowned.

"That's why I said almost." I retorted. He raised his hands, backing off. I glanced up at Alivia, about to ask if she thought we should scan the stain here and send Calla a digital copy of its chemical components or just bring a sample of it home with us, when I saw the deep frown on her face. "Hey." I called, getting her attention. She shook herself out of her thoughts. "Lils is scary tough, and wherever she is, she's got Liam, Kieran, and Taylor. A hundred bucks says they're fine."

"Do you even have a hundred bucks?" She questioned skeptically.

"Nope. That's how sure I am that I'm right." I replied. She smiled a little, despite herself.

"Alright. Let's get Calla and Chase a sample of this." She gestured at the stain before touching her comm piece. "Calla, we found the place. We're bringing something back for you to test."

 _"Let me guess. A weird, blue substance?"_  Calla questioned. We all exchanged looks.

"Are you psychic? Is the baby making you psychic?" Bree questioned. I looked at her. "What? I saw it on TV."

 _"Uh…no. And that was telepathic, not psychic."_  Calla replied, bemused.  _"Chase and the others found something similar where Liam was taken from."_

"Any idea what it is?" Alivia asked as we began to search the rest of the area for clues.

 _"Well, I have to do some scanning to be sure, but I'm pretty sure it's some sort of chemical weapon."_  She replied, though she didn't sound as certain as she claimed.  _"I'll have more for you once I get a chance to look at it."_

"Hey, there's some here too." Ollie called, gesturing at the dumpster. Together, he and Bree pushed the dumpster away from the coffee shop's wall to reveal a similar stain on the wall of the building, though this one was darker, with hints of grey in it. "Weird."

"Calla might be right about it being a weapon." I commented. I closed three fingers on my right hand, making it look like a gun. I pointed my finger-gun at the wall. "Say there's two of them. There's a fight and she uses her powers to slide the dumpster into them."

"But she misses one of them and that guy takes a shot." Bree continued, stepping in front of the stain. I mimicked shooting her, before she twisted to the side. "The shot misses and hits the wall."

"Then she goes after the guy who shot at her, and tackles them to the ground, which is why the first one shoots towards the ground rather than at eye-level." Ollie added. Bree and I exchanged looks before she walked over to me. I dropped to the ground, carefully avoiding the stain, and she dropped to her knees. "This shot misses as well…then what?"

"Well, Lily would have used her powers on him," Alivia frowned. "She would have pushed forward, so he would have gone flying…there." She pointed upwards, towards a fire escape. From down here, I could see that part of it was busted, one of the ladder's rods hanging loosely on one side. "But then, what about the fence?"

"What if there was a third guy?" Ollie commented after a moment's thought. We all looked at him. "Say Lily gets up after taking that guy out, but doesn't realize there's a third…"

"And he throws her through the fence." I finished, looking over towards the broken fence. I opened my mouth to theorize what happened next, but before I could, the sound of sirens hit our ears.

"Okay, that's too many sirens for it to just a passing ambulance." Bree decided as they steadily got louder.

"Let's check it out." I suggested. Not waiting for a response, I took off after the source of the sirens. After a couple of blocks, the sounds started to grow louder.

"Oh, shit." Bree swore, slowing to a walk next to me as we realized what the problem was. One of the apartment buildings nearby had caught fire, and by now, the entire top two floors were engulfed in flames, and, judging by the amount of smoke pouring out some of the windows on the third floor, it was steadily on its way to joining them.

"There are still people up there!" I heard one woman cry, a concerned look on her face. The rest of us all looked at each other.

"Well, frosty?" I asked my brother, gesturing at the building. He gave me a look. "You cool things down for us, and we get the people. Easy peesy."

"Never say easy peesy again." Bree requested. "First, it never is. Second, it's stupid."

"Noted." I gave her a mock salute.

"But she is right." Alivia commented. Ollie sighed dramatically.

"I have fires." He grumbled. I smirked, my hands on his shoulders as I pushed him towards the building. God, I missed doing missions with my brother.

**Kaz's POV**

"Well, it's about…time?" Calla trailed off as Dani, Oliver, Alivia, and Bree walked into Mission Command. Each and every one of them were covered head to feet in soot and ash, though none of them looked particularly unhappy. "What in the world happened to you?"

"Apartment building caught fire. We saved like twenty people." Bree replied, shrugging like it was no big deal, as she walked over to take Noah from Jaden. Dani sat down at one of the computer desks, smirking to herself.

"Why are you so happy?" Chase questioned. She shrugged.

"Because as much as I enjoy kicking bad guys' asses, and trust me, I enjoy that, it's also nice to do some actual saving every once in a while." She replied. I smiled, not disagreeing with her; it was always a better feeling than fighting people. Though that was pretty cool too.

"Oh, and here is your sample." Oliver handed Calla a vial of asphalt scrapings. She glowered at it, taking it.

"Thanks, but I already had MISS scan what they brought back." She jerked her thumb at me and the others.

"What type of chemical is it?" Alivia questioned. Calla crossed her arms, still glaring. She still wasn't happy with what she'd found.

"It's not. Check this out." She stood up and waved her hand towards the holo-table. It activated as she did, revealing an extremely magnified look at the substance that Jaden had collected off an alley wall. But instead of showing chemical particles or whatever it was that we'd been expecting to find, there were about forty miniature, orb-shaped robots.

"Wait, are those nanobots?" Bree questioned, recognizing the tech. She glanced at us. "Uh, Mr. Davenport used some a few years back."

"Yeah, he did." Chase nodded, stepping forward. "But these are smaller, faster, and their sole purpose is to destroy."

"The stain left behind is the immediate effect of the erosion they left behind. Most of these nanobots have been deactivated, so I think they've got some sort of shell-life. Had they been active longer, though, they would have eaten through it all by now." Calla finished.

"What would they have done to our friends?" Rani questioned. Chase glanced back at her.

"It's hard to say. I don't think they would have killed them, though they probably would have incapacitated them." He replied.

"There are easier ways to kidnap people. Even if those people are superheroes." Skylar commented, annoyed.

"Trust me, that's not the only concerning bit." Calla sighed irritably. She waited until she had all of our attentions. "Whoever coded these nanobots left their signature: 1908091820-0616."

"Oh no." Rani gasped dramatically. Calla gave her a look. "C'mon, like I'm only one who has no idea what that means."

"It's the same code we found on some high-tech weapons that hit the market a year. It's been popping up more and more in high-tech weapons over the past year." Bree explained.

"Any idea who the seller is?" Alivia asked. Jaden shook his head.

"I'm more concerned with who the engineer is. This stuff is top of the line." Calla insisted. "I mean, if they turn out not to be evil, I might offer them a job."

"They may have helped kidnap our friends." I pointed out.

"I  _might_  offer them a job." She insisted.

"So, basically what you're saying is you have no idea who sold, bought, or made the weapon?" Dani questioned. Calla shook her head. "Do we know anything?"

"It's a half-decent lead, but yeah, it's all we've got." Jaden told her apologetically. She, Rani, and Alivia sighed. "We're worried too, guys."

"Look, it's not a lot, but we're going to do anything we can to find them." Chase promised. They all nodded and he looked back at us, confirming that the agreement we'd made before they arrived was still the plan. "It'd be easier to work on this together, in person, than in different parts of the country."

"You think we should stay?" Alivia questioned.

"It does make sense." Skylar offered. Alivia considered it. "I mean, if you have to get back to the League, we understand, but…"

"I left Barry in charge. He knows what he's doing…mostly." She frowned deeply. "And Davenport Industries does have the best technological resources if these weapons are involved."

"Plus, with us, you won't have to pull any resources from the League." I pointed out. She considered it, then glanced at Rani and Dani.

"You guys have any objections?" She questioned.

"Nope." "I suppose not." Rani replied, Dani shortly after her. Alivia nodded.

"Then, we'll take you up on your offer." She smiled at us. "Thank you. Seriously."

"Always." Oliver promised her, patting her shoulder.

"I just hope Barry can manage." Dani mumbled. Rani rolled her eyes.

"He'll be with Alan and Surge. What's the worst that can happen?" She questioned. Alivia stared at her for a moment, then pulled out her phone.

"I'm just gonna…check in." She said hesitantly, heading for the elevator. Rani laughed once she was gone.

"Fair warning, she's a mother hen." She told us. I chuckled at that, amused. Meanwhile, Calla was still staring at the hologram, annoyed. "You're really bothered by this engineer, aren't you?"

"Whoever they are, they're almost better than me." She muttered. I raised an eyebrow at that. "Almost."

"Sure." Oliver nodded seriously. She rolled her eyes.

"I just wish we knew who they were." She replied.

**The Engineer's POV**

"Sir," I greeted, walking into the command center. My boss was sitting in his chair, silently staring into the surveillance feeds we had from sub-level B. Our 'guests' were visible on all four screens, three of them just sitting in their cells, talking to each other, while the rowdiest of them all – a pretty blonde guy with a large vocabulary of insults – paced in front of the power-nullifying bars impatiently. "Sir, the results of today's tests."

He took the file from me but didn't look at it. "We need more." He stated simply, impatiently. I nodded my agreement.

"I have an idea about that." I offered. He turned, waiting. "But I'm going to need your grandson's help."


	2. Reconnecting

** Dani's POV **

" _Alright, four guys inside, six hostages. One of which is a four-year-old, so take extra precaution guys."_ Calla warned, voice coming in through my comm.  _"The quicker the better; we don't want to traumatize the poor child."_

"Thanks babe. Okay, here's the plan: Bree, you go in through the delivery entrance in the back – usually, it would be guarded, but I doubt the robbers have more than one guy watching that end. Distract them and try to draw as many as you can away from the hostages. Kaz, go with her. Skylar, Dani, you're with me. We go in through the front, take out the bank robbers, alright?" He glanced back at us, waiting for a response. Once we'd all shown him that we understood, he jerked his head to motion for Bree and Kaz to get moving.

I watched them go, feeling the familiar energy of adrenaline flooding through my system. It had been too long since I'd been on a mission with my old friends, and truth be told, I missed it. When they'd asked for volunteers to deal with the bank robbers – there weren't enough of them to warrant the entire team coming – I'd offered right away.

I just hoped it went well.

** Jaden's POV **

"Well, that went terribly." Bree announced as she, Dani, Kaz, Skylar, and Chase walked into the penthouse. I raised an eyebrow, but she didn't elaborate, instead dropping to her knees right next to me. She put on a fake smile as she looked down at our son, Noah, who was content to lying on his back for the time being. "Hey Bug."

"What happened?" Oliver questioned just as the fireplace split in two. Calla walked out of the hidden elevator, alternating stern looks between Skylar and Dani.

"Are you two serious? What the hell?" She demanded, arms crossed.

"What happened?" I repeated Oliver's question.

"These two started both wanted to take out the last robber, but neither would give in." Chase explained, also annoyed. "And they spent so much time trying to take out the same guy that the other three got away."

"Damn." I whistled. Tough break. "Was anyone hurt?"

"No, all the hostages got out okay." Calla assured me, taking a seat on the couch near me.

"Thanks to Kaz, Chase, and I." Bree added.

"Look, it was an accident. I thought she would go join you guys." Skylar explained, her tone apologetic. Dani nodded eagerly.

"It was just a communication mistake." She added. She glanced at Skylar. "It's probably my fault, since I've been gone for so long. We're sorry guys, really."

Chase observed them for a minute, then sighed. "I suppose the cops can track down the robbers. But next time, a mistake like that might end up worse than a couple of bad guys getting away. People could get hurt." He told them. They both nodded solemnly. "I guess we're just going to have to get used to working with you, Rani, and Alivia again."

"We'll figure it out." Skylar promised him. He nodded, then glanced at his clothes.

"Alright. I'm going to go shower." He decided, heading for the stairs. Kaz nodded.

"Yeah, I should change too – Jessica's going to be here any minute for our lunch date." He declared before following Chase. Dani watched him go, then looked around.

"Liv already leave for New York?" She asked, slightly disappointed. Alivia had been planning to make a quick trip back to the NLH base, intending to catch Barry up to speed in person as well as pick up some things for the girls.

"Yeah, left an hour ago. Don't worry; I reminded her to grab Katy." Rani assured her, not looking up from her book. She'd been at the desk by the window all morning, taking vague notes on the information in the book in a language I didn't recognize or understand. "God knows what that homicidal little monster will do to Alan's pets if you leave her there alone."

"I take it you're not a fan of cats?" I guessed.

"Cats, yes. Whatever that thing is, no." The umbrakinetic replied with a scowl. "She trained that thing to hate me, I swear."

For her part, Dani looked pretty pleased with herself for that fact. "What are you doing anyway?" Bree questioned, curious. Rani tilted her book upwards for us to see.

"Trying to find a spell that can get past whatever's hiding Liam and the others from us. There's no spell that will directly find them, but if I can find a loophole, maybe we can track them down." She explained.

"Sorry, you're looking for a what?" I questioned, turning around to look at her briefly until Noah's hand slapped my knee. I turned back to my son, giving him a friendly smile.

"I'm a master of the dark arts." Rani replied, pride in her voice. "Black magic is kind of my thing."

"Magic?" Calla laughed at that. Rani looked at her, offended. "Oh c'mon, you can't be serious."

"And why can't I?" She demanded, annoyed.

"Magic isn't actually real. You do know that?" My sister asked.

"You know, I'm going to go flying." Dani said softly, slowly backing out of the room and onto the veranda.

"Excuse me, but I think I know whether magic is real or not. I use it every day." Rani snapped. She furrowed her brow. "You work with superheroes…you have superpowers. How can you not believe in these things?"

"Superpowers have basis in science. Dani's cells got supercharged when she made indirect contact with the Arcturion, while Oliver's were distilled cryogenically like liquid nitrogen. That is a scientific explanation for superpowers. Magic, on the other hand, isn't real magic." Calla explained slowly, amused by Rani's insistence on her gifts. Rani quirked an eyebrow at that.

" _Tablet te detrahet me."_  She declared, and the tablet in Calla's hands floated into the air and flew towards Rani. She caught it with ease, a smirk on her face.

"What do you call that?" She challenged, placing the tablet down on the desk next to her.

"Unexplained science." Rani rolled her eyes at Calla's response. "I mean, that's all magic ever was – science that we don't know enough about."

"I think magic is a little better than your science." Rani sneered. Skylar raised an eyebrow at that.

"I'm going to go for a jog." She announced, heading for the door. A part of me wondered if maybe Skylar and Dani had the right idea to get out of here while they still could. Calla could be extremely stubborn on a regular day, and even though I didn't know her very well, I had the feeling that Rani could be equally bullheaded about the things she believed in.

"Please. Anything you can do with your 'magic'" Rani fumed at Calla's air quotes, "I can do with my tech."

"Is that so?" Rani mused, standing up and closing her book. Yep, the girls were smart to get out of here. "Well, why don't we test that, shall we?"

Calla shifted her jaw, interested. "What do you propose?"

"A challenge. I name three spells, and you have to recreate their effects  _perfectly_." She emphasized the last word. "But when you can't, because you really can't, you have to admit that my magic isn't just real, but is also better than your stupid science."

"Alright, but when I win, you have to admit that magic is just weaker science." Calla retorted.

"You're on." The witch smirked triumphant to herself. My sister glanced at us.

"But I get Oliver, Jaden, and Bree's help on this." She added. Rani considered it, then nodded in agreement.

"Actually, I'm kinda with Rani on this." Bree commented, giving Calla an apologetic. Calla rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Help Rani choose the spells." She sighed irritably. I looked at her, frowning.

"Why do we have to help you?" I demanded. She raised an eyebrow at me.

"You really want to argue with me about this?" She questioned, her tone steely cold.

"No." Oliver answered for us. Calla smirked and clapped her hands together.

"Great. You two pick out your spells, and you guys meet me down in mission command in ten minutes." She instructed, pushing herself off the couch and heading for the hidden elevator. Oliver and I exchanged glances. This was going to be nothing if not interesting.

** Dani's POV **

So, if I knew Calla and Rani, entering the Penthouse any time within the next eight hours would just end with me getting dragged into one side of a completely pointless argument – both of them were ridiculously stubborn and hated to be wrong at all costs. Which meant that I had a good eight hours to track down the robbers that escaped.

This morning had been my fault, really. Well, and Skylar's. We'd never been the best of friends, at least not like Kaz and Ollie were, but we used to be close, we used to be a well-oiled machine. Now…well, I guess my leaving had strained both our working and personal relationship mores than I originally thought. I wasn't sure there was anything I could do to change that, but I could find those robbers and make sure they ended up behind bars.

"Alright, if I were an evil bank robber, where would I go?" I muttered to myself as I walked through the bank. It was still closed by the police, as it was a crime scene, but I was hoping that the criminals had left something behind that would give me some clue to their identity or, at the very least, their next target. I looked around, trying to pick out anything they would have left behind; perhaps Rani could use of her tracking spells on it.

"Oh." I looked up to see Skylar stride into the bank, eyes widening when she noticed me. "I didn't realize…I guess we had the same idea."

"I guess." I pressed my lips into a thin line. I glanced around. "Well, there's not exactly much left here. Wanna split up? I can finish up here, bring whatever I find back to Rani to track, while you hit the streets?"

"Or I could take a blood sample back to Calla so we can identify the criminals." Skylar gestured at a small blood stain left on the banker's counter from when Chase had thrown the robber he was fighting into it.

"Yeah, maybe." I hadn't thought of that. Skylar sighed.

"You know, this probably won't need the both of us on it. I can take care of it." She offered, hands on her hips as she frowned thoughtfully. "Why don't you head back to the Penthouse, see if you can help Rani with her spells?"

"Nah, it's okay." I flashed her a smile. "I'd rather stay out of the whole science versus magic thing. I don't see it ending well."

"Are you sure?" She pressed. I paused, then stood up.

"Do you not want me here?" I questioned, offended. She shook her head.

"I didn't say that." She insisted. But her tone, her body language gave her away pretty quickly. She was clearly not pleased to see that I'd opted to go after the bad guys as well, but I couldn't tell if this was a wanting-alone-time problem or a me problem.

"Look, if this is about this morning," I began, only for her to shake her head. "I know it didn't go well, but it's just going to take us a little time to get used to working together again."

"It wouldn't have been a problem if you hadn't left in the first place." Skylar grumbled. I raised my chin, realizing what this was about.

"You're upset that I left." I observed. She didn't answer, instead turning on her heel and walking out. I quickly swiped up a blood sample, then raced after her. "Skylar!" I called to her, catching up to her as she turned down a small, mostly deserted street. She didn't stop, so I jogged to keep up with her. "Look, I get you're upset, but I'm not going to apologize."

"Why would I expect you to?" She retorted, annoyed to find that I was following her.

"It was the right thing to do." I insisted, starting to lose my own patience. "I needed to at least try and stop Lexi, and besides, it wasn't like you wanted me around." At that, she gave me a stern look. "You didn't trust me, Skylar. After what I did, I didn't blame you for that, but I also wasn't going to stick around somewhere I wasn't trusted."

"How were we supposed to learn to trust you again if, five minutes as we stopped Bridget, you left?" Skylar laughed accusingly, her tone dark. "Again?"

I stopped. "I…I had some stuff to work through. I needed some time, some space."

"You needed a full year?" Skylar questioned, her tone softening a little as she turned to face me. She didn't look so angry now, more disappointed. "Look, I'm glad you found a place with the New League of Heroes, it really sounds like you found a good home there. And I admit, I thought a break would be good for you, but you left for a full year, and you didn't even say goodbye to half of us. Most of us didn't realize you were gone until Oliver told us the next day at lunch."

"Skylar-" I began, but she raised a hand, cutting me off.

"I'm not expecting you to apologize for not being at home here anymore. People change, they start needing different things. But what you did, the way you did it, that was unfair to everyone. Especially Oliver and Kaz."

I looked away, pushing down any feelings of guilt that were starting to rise in my stomach. "Ollie thought it was a good idea."

"No," She scoffed at that, amused, "he didn't. But you told him it was what you needed and you know as well as I do that he'll always support you. He may call you an idiot while he does, but if you tell him you're having a hard time and need something, he'll support you even if it hurts him." She shook her head. "You didn't even call him for almost eight months, Dani. That wasn't fair to him, or any of us."

I swallowed past a lump in my throat. "I know."

Skylar sighed. "Look, I just…it's hard to work with someone you don't trust who could leave again at any possible moment." She told me. I frowned at her. "Face it; the moment Liam and Lily are safe, you, them, Liv, and Rani are heading back to New York, are you not?"

"I suppose…" I agreed reluctantly. I'd been so focused on saving my friends that I hadn't thought about what would happen once we found them. And here I was, trying to rekindle my old friendships with people I was just going to leave again. I sighed. "Skylar, we have to work together, like it or not. We'll never be able to get anything accomplished if we don't." She scowled, though she didn't argue my point. "I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm just…I'm asking you to give me the chance to earn your trust again."

She frowned, considering it. "Fine. Did you get a sample?"

"Of course." I handed her the vial. She pulled out a small, handheld device that sorta looked like a graphing calculator. She pressed the vial into a section on the side of the device, and I watched the glass light up blue. Skylar then reached up to activate her comm. "Hey, MISS, do you think you can get Calla to run this through our database? We're hoping to get an ID." She paused listening, then sighed. "Good enough, thanks."

"Let me guess, MISS is going to do it herself because Calla and Rani are too busy trying to prove who is better?" I guessed. She sighed.

"I swear, sometimes…" She shook her head.

** Jaden's POV **

"For the record, I think this is very stupid." I commented as Rani, Bree, and Oliver walked into mission command. Dani, Chase, Kaz, and Skylar, were all right to get out of here while they could; knowing these two, even if one of them proved their point, the other would just keep going until they themselves won.

"Yeah, yeah. Suck it up, Jay. I'm paying in babysitting hours, am I not?" She retorted, crossing her arms at Rani. "You ready for this?"

Rani cocked her head to the side, smirking to herself. "Are you?" She challenged.

"Play nice, guys." Bree cautioned, adjusting her grip on Noah. He stared up at her, completely mesmerized by her face as she addressed the two overly-competitive girls. "It's a friendly competition, alright?"

"Sure, sure." Calla dismissed her. Bree and I exchanged looks, knowing that Calla wasn't going to let this go until her precious science proved supreme. "Let's do this then."

" _Oliver faciet avolare_." Rani declared, not even moving. Suddenly, Oliver floated into the air, his look of surprise revealing that his sudden flight was not his idea. She smirked and gestured at me. "Make your brother fly, genius girl."

"Easy." Calla had laughed at that once Bree told her it was on the list of spells that Rani was intending on using. She pressed a button on her phone and the anti-gravity belt she'd forced me to wear activated, pulling me, against my will, into the air. "You wanna try again?"

Rani frowned, annoyed, then grabbed a stress ball off one of the computer desks.  _"Hoc pila quasi exspiravit."_  She declared, one hand hovering over the ball before she threw it directly at Calla. It flew through her harmlessly, as intangible as a ghost. It flew through the wall behind her, presumably to continue its path through the hidden tunnels. "Let's see you mimic that."

"Rio can do that with her chip. As for me," She zipped up her mission jacket, frowning in displeasure when it proved to be a little too-tight over her stomach. Nevertheless, she pulled the hood up and pressed a button on her tech watch. "I added that upgrade," She walked backwards through the same wall the ball had gone through before reappearing a minute later, smirking, "last month."

"Enough!" Rani fumed, ticked off at Calla's smug appearance. She raised her hand towards my sister, brow furrowed.  _"Rigescunt indutae!"_ She cried, and a blue, almost white, blast of energy burst from her hand.

Calla reacted instantly, pressing another button on her tech watch to project a plasma force field, almost identical to Chase's, though this one was tinged green. The blast hit the force field, leaving an icy blast mark that quickly melted away.

Calla didn't even hesitate, her plasma gun already loaded and aimed at Rani. She pulled the trigger quickly, before any of us could intervene. Rani didn't seem to care, however, as she raised her hand. Her shadow seemed to peel its way off the ground and rose to full height, acting like a bodyguard for Rani as the shot was absorbed in the thick darkness.

"Okay, when you said you were adding attack spells to the list, I thought you'd be doing target practice on one of the rock walls, not on each other." Bree scolded, stepping in between them after handing Noah off to me.

"Field tests are so much better than target practice." The former villainess reasoned, as if she hadn't just attacked my sister.

"I mean…she's not wrong." Calla commented offhandedly. Bree sent her a look. "What? It does show a better demonstration of the attack. A lot of experiments do try to replicate real-life situations for that reason."

"Teammates do not attack each other. For magical or scientific experiments." She sounded exasperated at the fact that she even had to explain that to two grown adults. Rani let out a long breath, clearly still peeved.

"Looks like it's a draw then." She decided unhappily.

"Looks like." Calla agreed, equally displeased. Rani nodded once, almost to herself, then walked away. Noah suddenly started crying, so Bree went to set him down for a nap, and Calla headed for the elevator. Leaving Oliver and I still floating in the air.

"Get us down from here!" Oliver shouted, kicking his feet at the ground, trying to force himself to land.

"Uh, guys?" I called, but they were already gone. "Somebody?"

** Dani's POV **

"Alright, according to MISS, this is the most likely place for the robbers to go back to." Skylar frowned, double-checking the coordinates as I watched the side of the apartment building for any sign of which apartment our criminals would be in. "At least, the guy whose blood you took – someone named Charles Canberra – frequents this place a lot, according to his bus pass."

"He rents apartment C17." Chase supplied, walking over to us. He nodded at us appreciatively. "Thanks for the heads up about their location."

"Yeah, well, I thought it would be better with even odds." Skylar commented, shrugging. Chase glanced between the two of us.

"…Are we good?" He questioned, sensing the lingering tension between us. I glanced at Skylar, and we both nodded.

"Let's go." I insisted, already heading for building's entrance.

** Xxx **

Skylar and I stood against the wall on either side of the door labelled C17, while Chase prepared himself in front of it. He looked at the two of us to make sure we were ready, then nodded at me. I placed my hand on the wall, sending an electrical surge through the wiring, strong enough to blow even the fuses in the hall. The lights flickered then cut out, leaving us alone in the dark. Chase waited a moment, listening for the robbers inside the room, before hitting the door with his forcefield, shrunken into the size and shape of a very deadly basketball. The force field knocked the door completely off its hinges, and we charged into the room, the only sources of light coming from either the two windows near the back of the apartment or my own flashlight hands.

We took the robbers completely off guard, and overpowering them was easy enough – already, Chase had one on the ground, trying to wrestle a pair of hand cuffs onto the man – and Skylar, despite her difficulty in the darkness – humans couldn't see particularly great in the dark, but Calderan night-vision was even worse – was combatting another, keeping him close enough to the window that she could see him.

My guy, on the other hand, was a useless fighter, completely incompetent with his fists…which is probably why he immediately scrambled for a gun. I lunged at him as he tried to get a good grip on it, slamming my elbow into his arm at the last minute to knock the weapon from his hands. He twisted under me, trying to flip me off of him. It somewhat worked – he was larger than me, and used his weight to his advantage, much to my annoyance – as I was thrown backwards a bit, just enough time for him to grab the gun, aim it at me, and pull the trigger.

I dropped to my knees at the last second, narrowly avoiding having my brains blown out, but the gunshot was enough to catch the others off guard. It worked out for Chase, who finally managed to cuff his bad guy thanks to the distraction, but Skylar's opponent recovered from the surprise much faster than she did and slammed her into the nearest wall.

I aimed a blast of electricity at the robber, just enough to knock him out, and leapt to my feet in search of the handcuffs I'd dropped in our fight. I spotted them nearby and swiped them up, bending down to cuff the guy when another voice spoke.

"Step away from Charlie, girl." I looked up to see the largest of the three thugs glaring at him, his arm tight around Skylar's neck. She struggled in his grip, able to breathe, but clearly trapped. He visibly tightened his grip and Skylar winced painfully, fingers gripping his arm but failing to remove it. "Now."

I sucked in a breath, trying to figure a way out of this. Chase was of no help – his criminal was still fighting back, despite the handcuffs – and the best plan I could come up with was blasting the guy, but with Skylar so close to him, it would be risky. Too risky.

"Dani." Skylar called, her voice eerily calm. I looked at her and gave me a small nod, even as the criminal pulled her back a step. I took another breath, this one calmer, deeper, and clenched my fist. Then, Skylar nodded again.

Two things happened at the exact same time: one, Skylar went limp in the criminal's arms, her sudden deadweight making him drop his guard for half a second, and two, I sent a blast of lightning his way. It hit him in the shoulder while he was still trying to adjust to Skylar's actions, and knocked him backwards, his grip on her loosening enough for her to escape. She spun around instantly, landing a painful-looking kick to his stomach. He fell to the ground, his head catching the edge of a table on his way down.

"Well, I'd say he's down for the count." I commented dryly. Skylar gave me a look, almost as if to say 'well duh', and I couldn't help but smirk.

"You guys alright?" Chase questioned as he dragged his criminal, still trying desperately trying to get away, over to us. He shoved the guy onto his butt, sighing in annoyance when he tried to get back up. "Dude, give it a rest. It's over."

"Here." I offered as I handcuffed the guy I'd knocked out. I grabbed a secondary pair of handcuffs, handcuffing their hands together so that they wouldn't be able to get away so easily.

"We're fine." Skylar assured him. She gave me a nod. "Nice shot."

I smiled but didn't say anything as she cuffed her guy. "I'm going to call the police to come pick these guys up." Chase told us, stepping into the hall, his cell phone already in his hands. I stood up, wincing as my bruises from the fight made themselves known.

"That's going to ache in the morning." I commented, stretching. Skylar nodded her agreement, then sighed.

"About earlier…" She began. I shook my head, stopping her.

"It's fine." I told her. She shook her head.

"I know you weren't trying to hurt us, and if I implied that you were, I'm sorry." She told me, sincere. "I just…I don't mean to sound so mean about it, it's just…"

"You needed to call me out on it. I get it." I nodded. "You're just looking out for Ollie and the rest of the team, and I appreciate that."

She sighed. "He's going to hate it when you leave again." She commented. I nodded.

"…I can't promise that I won't leave. I probably will, but it won't be like last time. I'll stay in touch, I won't disappear again." I promised. She nodded, accepting the assurance.

"Talk once a week?" She guessed. I smirked.

"I mean, I could call, like, every night, but I can't guarantee that I won't be totally annoying about it." I told her. She almost laughed at that.

"You, annoying? I never would have thought." She teased lightly.

** Xxx **

"I wonder who won Calla and Rani's little contest?" Skylar questioned as we headed towards the penthouse. The criminals had been picked up by the CCPD, and we were already almost home.

"Ten bucks on Rani, but only because she'd do anything to win." I commented. Chase chuckled at that.

"You clearly don't know my wife if you think she's capable of giving up." He replied as we reached the same street as Davenport Tower. "Oh…"

I paused mid-step when I saw that Kaz and a tall, blonde woman standing near the entrance. I recognized Jessica instantly, having met her at Calla and Chase's wedding a couple of years ago. "Oh, hey guys." Kaz greeted us when he noticed us.

"Hey, how was dinner?" I forced a bright smile onto my face as we approached them. I'd promised myself, once I found out that Kaz was seeing someone, that I was going to be nothing but supportive of it, even if it killed me.

"Good. Uh, Jess, you remember Dani?" He replied. Jessica sent him a hesitant glass before reaching out to shake my hand.

"Uh, yeah. I thought you moved away." She commented, surprised to see me. I nodded.

"I did, but I'm back in town for some Elite Force business." I mentioned, increasing the smile as my heart clenched. I glanced at Skylar and Chase, hoping either of them would give me an excuse to get out of here.

"Uh, we should go and brief the rest of the team." Skylar commented, flashing me a smile. She nodded at Kaz. "We caught the rest of the robbers."

"Oh, awesome." Kaz grinned. "Nice job, guys."

"We'll see you in a bit, man." Chase clapped him on the back before grabbing the door to the building and holding it open for Skylar and I. We walked in, her a little in front of me. I shoved my hands in my pockets, refraining from looking back at them. Jessica was fairly pretty, and really nice, if I recalled. Kaz looked pretty happy with her too. I wanted to be happy for him, I did, but…well, this was going to be a lot harder than I thought.

** Rani's POV **

"Hey." I looked up from my book to see Calla standing over me, a mug of hot chocolate and one with the string of a tea bag still hanging out of it in her hands. "Peace offering?"

I sighed and closed my spell book. "Thanks." I accepted the drink appreciatively. She pulled up a chair and sat across from me, and I sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I get caught up in the heat of things sometimes – that's how we'd handle stuff back when it was my brother, Chaz, and I, and I sometimes have trouble remembering that that's not how I'm supposed to handle things."

"I could have been a little less smug about things." She shrugged. "So, I was thinking-"

Before she could continue, the front door opened and Dani, Skylar, and Chase walked in. Dani didn't say anything, instead heading upstairs, while Skylar and Chase joined Calla, Bree, and I. A moment later, Kaz came in to join us.

"Where were you?" Calla questioned, noticing that the two of them were in their mission uniforms.

"Oh, we went after some of the robbers from this morning. It's all good." Chase promised, kissing his wife on the forehead.

"So? Who won?" Skylar questioned.

"It was a tie." Calla and I responded at the same time.

"They both tried to kill each other." Bree added. Skylar and Chase exchanged vaguely amused looks.

"I'm not exactly surprised." Chase sighed.

"No, it's fine. Actually, I was going to talk to you about something." Calla turned back to me. "So, something occurred me during our little competition. Science and magic, regardless of which you believe is better, are just two different methods of doing the same thing."

"Yes. And two plus two is four, and the sky is blue, and the earth is round. Thank you for the update, Captain Obvious." I commented. Calla gave me a look.

"Actually, the sky is technically grey and just looks blue because of the way light works, but that's not the point." She shook her head. "I was thinking, right now we're fighting over which one is better and we're using them separately, but what if we combined them?"

"Like weaving my magic into your technology?" I asked, frowning at her as I considered the idea.

"Is that even possible?" Skylar questioned, glancing at me. I bit my lip, thinking.

"I mean, maybe. But I don't have any technology-compatible spells in my spell book." I told them. They looked disappointed, so I added, "I mean, I'm sure there's spells out there, but I'd need a more powerful spell book."

"Where would we be able to find one?" Kaz questioned. I shook my head.

"I don't know. Real spells books aren't exactly easy to find." I commented.

"So I take it I wouldn't be able to ask a clerk at Barnes & Noble to help me, now would I?" Calla guessed.

"No, not really." I replied. She nodded to herself.

"In that case, I'm going to have MISS set to search for mentions of them." She decided. "Maybe the reason we haven't been able to track down the others is because we've been looking the wrong way."

"Maybe." I hummed thoughtfully. Kaz suddenly frowned and looked around.

"Hey, where's Oliver?" He questioned. Calla and I suddenly looked at each other, remembering.

"Oh, they're not going to be happy with us." The genius realized, a guilty smile appearing on her face.

** The Engineer's POV **

"In that case, I'm going to have MISS set to search for mentions of them." I smiled at the sound of Calla's voice, pleased that the sound was so clear, despite the distance between the bug and our base of operations. "Maybe the reason we haven't been able to track down the others is because we've been looking the wrong way."

"Maybe." Another voice, one that we'd identified as belonging to a former student of Dr. Wrath, commented. I muted the live stream, knowing that the recording would be unaffected, and turned to my boss.

"I told you our spy would be able to get us ears inside the penthouse." I told him, pleased with myself. He nodded, though he didn't look all that impressed.

"Find those spell books before they do." He ordered. I nodded.

"I'll send our best guy." I assured him.


	3. The Grimoire

** Chase's POV **

Calla let out a soft sigh, a sound that was somehow both sympathetic and irritated at the same time, as she watched Bree bounce her knee up and down at superspeed. I took my wife's hand, trying to distract her from Bree's rather annoying nervous habit, and she leaned her head against my shoulder.

"Bree, Dani is a professional superhero and an experienced doctor." Alivia said slowly, patiently. "She is more than capable and qualified of watching over Noah for one night."

"I know." Bree sighed. "It's just…this is the first time we've left the city without him, and I just have this bad feeling about it."

"Dani wouldn't let anything happen." I reasoned.

"She promised she'd take good care of him." Jaden added, kissing the top of Bree's head. "Not to mention, if she  _does_  need help, she has Kaz, Oliver, Skylar, Rani, Jessica, and Mrs. Franklin from down the hall to go to. Noah will be fine."

Before Bree could protest – and we all knew she would – the hydroloop's doors opened up to reveal the main entrance to the Bionic Academy. Leo, Adam, and Rio were all gathered in the room, waiting for us.

"About time." Rio smiled upon seeing us, quickly coming in for hugs. I smirked and stepped past her to bump fists with my brothers. Meanwhile, Alivia was taking a look outside the large window, admiring the view of the ocean.

"Nice, right?" Leo grinned. The Irish hero turned around, her expression quickly turning from admiration to sour jealousy.

"We have a twenty-year-old warehouse outside of New York, that we had to renovate ourselves, and you have a state of the art, high-tech academy on your own private island?" She demanded. Calla nodded.

"Yup." She agreed.

"So not fair." Alivia muttered under her breath, shaking her head. She turned to the others. "Seriously though, we should get to work." She glanced at Rio. "Still no sign of Taylor or your brother?"

Rio sighed, leaning heavily on the computer desk. "No." She replied regretfully. She bit her lip. "I can't even get in contact with Kieran through our bionic twin telepathy."

"Can you sense him at all?" Alivia asked. She shook her head.

"It doesn't work like that; it's more like a comm device inside our heads that can only communicate with each other. It's not about sensing each other, but he should have responded."

"I'm sure they're okay." Bree was quick to reassure her, but Rio didn't seem to believe her words. Not that I blamed her – they'd been missing for a month and a half now without an explanation – the chances that they were okay were getting slimmer with every passing second.

"Has anyone else gone missing?" Calla questioned, looking at Adam and Leo.

"All students are accounted for." Adam assured her. Jaden frowned, looking around.

"Hey, I thought Katherine was going to greet us too." He commented, noticing his former kitchen assistant's absence.

"There was an avalanche in Siberia. She's gone to go help with search and rescue. Logan, Kate, Daniel, Bob, and Spin went along." Leo replied.

"Well, at least we know no one else has been taken. We should institute a buddy-system or something." Bree suggested.

"Kieran and Taylor were taken together." Adam pointed out.

"Actually, Calla and I had an idea about that." Leo commented. Calla nodded.

"We're going to update and upgrade the GPS systems so that if a signal ever goes offline, even for a second, messages are immediately sent to the team, Adam, Leo, Alivia, and Arciere." She explained. She pulled a flash drive from her pocket. "We should get started on that, actually. Plus, I wanted to see if we could try sending an update to Kieran and Taylor's chips."

"Their signals are offline though." Adam frowned, not understanding. Leo smirked.

"Exactly. We can't do the update, so it should hit the chips and bounce back. We'll be able to trace where it bounces off of." He explained.

"That's brilliant." Alivia complimented.

"We know." Calla smirked proudly. Leo chuckled.

"We'll catch up with you guys later." He called to us as he and Calla left the room, presumably heading to our old quarters to get some work done.

"In the meantime, we'd like to see where Kieran and Taylor were taken from." I turned to Rio. She frowned.

"We already searched the forest, Chase, when they first went missing. We didn't find anything that implied foul play." She told me.

"But now that we know that their disappearance is connected to Spotlight's and Scarlet Ace's, we may be able to spot things that we wouldn't have noticed before, or even considered to be important." Alivia reasoned. She looked at Adam and Rio earnestly. "Trust me, with proper context, there's a lot more we can still learn from their disappearance site."

"Alright, let's go." Adam agreed, grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair.

** Oliver's POV **

"Hey, you wanna do something?" Skylar asked, sitting down next to me and twisting so that she could rest her legs on top of mine. I put down my book, intrigued. "I mean, we might as well, with everyone else gone."

"Sure. We could catch a movie, or we could do something here?" I suggested, smirking suggestively. Most of the team was back in Mission Creek, looking for clues about Kieran and Taylor, and almost everyone else had plans for the rest of the night, so it wasn't likely that we would be interrupted.

"What did you have in mind?" Skylar asked, leaning in closer. I smiled suggestively, leaning into kiss her.

"Hey." I pulled back, a little startled when Rani suddenly appeared before us. "You busy?"

"Uh…" Skylar and I exchanged looks, "kind of, yeah."

"Huh. Well, this is more important." Rani decided, not caring. "Meet me in Mission Command in two."

Without another word, she turned on her heels and walked straight into the hyperlift. Skylar and I both stared at where she'd been.

"Where did she even come from?" I hissed.

"I have no idea." Skylar sighed, moving to get up. She let out an irritable noise. "This had better be important."

** Xxx **

"About time." Rani commented as we walked into Mission Command. I gave her a look.

"I think you mean, 'thank you Oliver and Skylar for helping me, even after I asked so rudely'." I corrected her. She gave me an appraising look.

"…Whatever you say." She replied before stepping to the side so that we could see the holographic image projecting from the holotable. It didn't look as important as Rani had made it seem – it just looked like an old book, with weird designs and symbols in it. When I voiced my opinion, Rani managed to look both amused and offended.

"First of all, those aren't weird symbols, they're ancient Greek. Secondly, it's not just an old book; you are looking at the Grimoire of Enodia." She retorted, gesturing at the holographic book. The way she said that name, it was like she expected that information to change our lives. She waited a moment, expecting some sort of reaction other than confused, then sighed in annoyance when that was all that she got. "It's the first real spell book, written by the first black magic user."

"Okay, that's cool, I guess." Skylar shrugged. "What does this have to do with us?"

"Look, Calla had a good idea about mixing magic and science, but none of the spells I have in this," she patted her own spell book, "are powerful enough to handle to combination. So I need you to help me get this, if we're ever going to find Liam and the others."

Okay, that  _was_  important, I suppose. "Why do you need us?" I questioned.

"Yeah…so, according to legend, it's supposed to be guarded or something. I mean, I'm not sure I believe it, but Alivia has strict rules about going on solo missions, especially after Lily…" She trailed off before shaking her head. "Look, if she found out I went alone, I'd have to listen to a lecture on responsibility and teamwork, and I would rather avoid that if I could."

"Wait, legend?" Skylar frowned, catching onto that word. "Rani, is this thing real, or just a myth?"

"It's real." She insisted. "And according to a friend of Barry's, it's here." The hologram changed to a map of the Aegean Sea, and she pointed to a small island off the coast of Turkey.

"What friend?" I asked, curious. She shook her head.

"Doesn't matter." She smiled a little, as if it were a secret that she was smug about being allowed to know. "But she contacted me and said that according to her research, it's here. Look, I need this book if we're going to find the others. I would ask Dani to help me, but she's busy. So, are you in, or are you out?"

Skylar and I exchanged looks. "We're in."

** Xxx **

We'd just barely arrived on the island, curtesy of one of Calla's geoleap watches, when Dani's voice popped into my help.  _"Please tell me you're not busy."_  Her voice pleaded suddenly, catching me off guard. Skylar raised an eyebrow at my sudden start, but I waved her off. Rani, on the other hand, started on ahead of us, walking through the dense forest in search for…well, actually, I couldn't tell what she was looking for.

" _Kinda. Is it an emergency?"_  I replied as Skylar and I followed Rani. Dani didn't answer for a long moment, possibly considering how to answer.

" _He won't stop crying."_  She eventually said. I couldn't help the small smirk that came to my lips at that – Dani sounded desperate already, and Bree and Jaden had only been gone four hours. God knows what she'd do if she ever had kids of her own.

" _Have you tried feeding him?"_  I asked, teasing slightly.

" _Well, duh. And changing him, and I even tried singing to him, but that…well, it kinda made things worse."_  She admitted.  _"Ollie, help."_

"Whoa." I stopped suddenly as the trees parted, revealing massive ruins of what looked like an ancient Greek temple. Rani glanced back at me, a smirk on her lips, before bounding forward to investigate them.

" _What?"_  Dani demanded suddenly. Oops, must have thought and said that at the same time.

" _Never mind. Sorry, Dee, but I'm kinda out of the country."_ She didn't reply to that verbally, but a strong sense of confusion emanated from her mind.  _"Long story. On a mission with Skylar and Rani. Just try to get him to eat something, and if that doesn't work, call Kaz. He's got half a dozen younger siblings; I'm sure he'll know what to do."_

" _He's on a date."_ Dani reminded me. I glanced at the girls, who were already halfway up the stairs of the ruins.

" _Sorry, Dee. You're on your own."_ I told her apologetically before running after them.

"Dani?" Skylar guessed. I nodded.

"Noah's being fussy, and she's panicking. She'll be fine." I assured her. I looked around the ruins. They weren't much – just a handful of columns still standing, with only a few pieces of the roof still intact. I could easily imagine it being a massive temple though, centuries before time had reduced it to almost nothing. "So, where exactly is this book supposed to be?"

"Uh…" Rani faltered, looking around. "Didn't really think about that, actually."

Skylar sighed and glanced at me. "We could be here a while." She guessed.

** Chase's POV **

"This is the same type of burn as we found where Liam was taken." I commented, examining the ruins of a damaged tree. It hadn't taken us long to find where Taylor and Kieran were taken from – there was a clearing in the woods where a fight had clearly taken place.

"We thought it might be from Taylor's laser sphere ability – they leave burns in some materials, depending on how powerful it is." Rio mentioned, crossing her arms uncomfortably as she looked around the scene. She bit her lip. "Leo wasn't sure, but we just figured…"

Adam glanced at her when she trailed off. "Ri-o." He emphasized the last sound in her name, getting her to look at him. "Kieran and Taylor are some of the best on the island. They'll be fine."

"Besides, chances are, wherever they are, they're with Lily and Liam. They'll watch each other's backs." Bree added kindly. Rio nodded.

"I know. I'm just…I'm not used to not having him in my head." She shook her head as if to clear it, before turning to Alivia. "So, does anything else look like your crime scene?"

"Not really." Alivia sighed, disappointed. She'd been hoping for something more, maybe something that would narrow down where their kidnappers were from.

"Hey." Jaden spoke up suddenly from where he was kneeling next to a bush. He held up a small object that looked suspiciously like a gun magazine.

"It's a rifle magazine." Adam supplied with a scowl. "Apparently, this is a popular hunting area."

"Uh, I don't think that's what it is. At the very least, this isn't an ordinary magazine." Jaden shook his head. "My dad used to take me hunting before he joined the army. I don't think I've ever seen a magazine made out of this kind of material."

"Let me see." I held my hand out for the magazine. Jaden, after checking to make sure it was indeed empty, tossed it to me. I turned it over in my hands, examining the cool, thin metal-like material. It didn't feel right, and a quick scan confirmed that it wasn't any man-made material. At least, not one in my database. "I have no idea what this is." I declared, handing it off to Alivia.

"I think I do, actually." She frowned, examining it. She nodded to herself once. "Yeah, I think I've seen this before."

"Where?" Bree questioned, confused.

"In one of my dad's old files." She replied. She looked at us. "We should bring this back to the Academy – if it's what I think it is, Calla should be able to look up the file through your AI."

** Kaz's POV **

"I'm sorry about the audition." I told Jessica, smiling at her apologetically as I sipped at my coffee. She sighed, shrugging.

"It's fine. Honestly, I haven't been getting many roles lately anyway." She replied, sounding disappointed. I didn't comment on that, not wanting to upset her further. The truth was, Jessica hadn't had a real role in a long time. Her last couple fell through last minute, either due to lack of funding for the projects or scenes being cut, and the last real film she'd been in was a couple of years ago. "I'm considering getting out of the business of acting, actually."

"I'm sure you'll get the next role you go for." I encouraged her. She shrugged.

"I don't know. It's kind of lost its appeal on me." She shrugged before groaning and burying her face in her arms on the table. "This is depressing. Can we change the subject?"

"Anything for the birthday girl." I smiled at her. "Wanna hear what I've got planned for today?"

"Yes, please." She raised her head, smiling as she reached her hands out to place them on my wrists, her fingers grazing the glass top of the watch she'd given me for our six month anniversary.

"Okay, so I was thinking mini golf at that indoor, glow-in-the-dark place, then dinner at the Fermont-" She gasped, cutting me off.

"I love their shrimp." She beamed.

"I know, I remember." I smirked at her. "And then, I was thinking we get ice cream from the parlor on 6th street." I finished. She smiled. "How does that sound?"

"Perfect." She replied, leaning in to kiss me. Just as her lips touched mine, however, my phone went off, vibrating loudly on the table. She moved her face back an inch, just close enough that our noses were still touching. "Do you need to get that?"

"I…" The truth was, I probably did. Everyone knew that I had important plans today, so it was unlikely that anyone would call me unless it was for a mission, and with most of the team out of town, if there were a mission, I had to be there. "I'm sorry."

"I knew what I was getting into, dating a bionic hero." Jessica assured me. I winced slightly at the lie I'd been forced to tell her, but thankfully, she didn't seem to notice. I quickly answered the phone, stepping away from the table.

"Is this important?" I asked, right off the bat.

" _I think Noah's sick."_  Dani's voice, half-panicked, half-apologetic, and too fast, came from the other line.  _"He won't stop crying, and he won't eat, and before you ask, yes I checked his diaper. And he puked on me."_

"First, gross. Second, I'm sure he's not sick. He probably just misses Bree and Jay." I assured her, pinching the bridge of my nose. I sent Jessica an apologetic smile.

" _Are you sure? Kaz, I don't know anything about babies, but I do think something is wrong."_  She insisted.  _"Ollie, Skylar, and Rani all bailed. I'm on my own here."_

"This is your first time babysitting an infant?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

" _Yes."_  She murmured. I nodded to myself.

"Dani, the kid's fine, just upset. Try giving him a belly rub or burping him. I'm sure it'll help." I promised her. She started to object. "Look, Dee, I have to go – I promised Jessica I'd spend her birthday with her. But look, you try that, and I'll call in a few hours to check in on you guys."

" _Alright."_  She sighed, not liking my answer.

"C'mon, Dee, you've got this." I encouraged her. She sighed again, this time less upset though.

" _Okay, yeah. Yeah, you're right. Thanks Kaz."_  She hung up after that and I headed back to Jessica. "Ready for mini-golf?"

"Yeah, if you don't have to go." She replied. I shook my head.

"Nah, it was just Dani. She's freaking out about babysitting." I replied. Jessica frowned; I knew she didn't like to discuss Dani because of our history. "It's fine. Let's go."

"Okay." She smiled once more, grabbing her jacket with one hand and taking my hand with the other.

** Oliver's POV **

"Rani, we've been out here forever." I called after checking around the ruins for the hundredth time. "It's not here."

"Two hours is not forever." Rani corrected as she knelt down next to a column, examining its base as if there would be a hidden button or something. "Keep looking."

"Rani." Skylar said calmly, looking at the former villain. "Oliver's right; there's nothing here. Your source was wrong."

"She hasn't been wrong yet." She insisted. I frowned.

"Who is your source?" I questioned. She shook her head. "Rani!"

"I promised I wouldn't reveal her identity." She insisted. She smirked smugly at me. "Heroes don't break promises, Oliver."

I rolled my eyes at that; of course Rani would find a way to play the hero card against the rest of us. "Okay then." I stood up, stretching. "Maybe it's somewhere else on the island then. Just because there are ruins here doesn't mean that the book is here. It could just as easily be hidden under a rock or something on the other side of the island."

"No, the ruins make more sense." Rani frowned, her tone hesitant, like she didn't believe her own words.

"Wait a second." Skylar looked up suddenly, her facing clearing. "You said that this Enodia was the first witch?"

"Well, we're not called witches, but you have the right idea, yeah. Why?" Rani questioned.

"If she went through all this effort to hide her spell book, doesn't it make sense that she'd use everything she could to keep it hidden, including magic?" Skylar questioned. Rani's mouth formed the shape of an O suddenly, before she smacked herself in the head.

"Imbecile." She muttered, angry with herself. "The grimoire must be hidden by magic."

"Which means that magic might be the only thing that can find it." I finished, realizing where Skylar was going with this. I looked at Rani. "Right?"

She didn't answer, instead standing up and looking around thoughtfully. She hesitated for a moment, then raised her hands, her fingers spread wide.  _"Occulta revelando."_

We all waited a moment to see if anything would happen, but nothing did. "I don't think anything is here." I said, turning to Rani. "Maybe we should-"

I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence, because suddenly, the ground disappeared beneath me. I fell only a couple of feet, landing on a set of marble stairs leading downwards. "Never mind. I stand corrected."

Skylar and Rani walked over to the top of the stairs. We all looked down to where they descended into darkness. "Well, this doesn't look ominous at all." Skylar commented dryly before leading the way down them.

** Kaz's POV **

"This was great." Jessica smiled at me, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear as a waitress handed us the check. We both reached for it at the same time, though I got to it first.

"Your birthday, I pay." I reminded her, double checking the amount before tossing a few bills onto the table.

"So, ice cream?" Jessica smiled at me. I nodded.

"Yeah, I just have to make a call first." I told her, getting up. She frowned, confused. "I'll be right back, I promise."

"Okay." She nodded, giving me a smile before I headed towards the washrooms. Once I got away from the sounds of the restaurant, I pulled out my phone.

" _Hi?"_  Dani's voice, breathless and small for some reason, replied.

"Hey, I said I would check in. How's Noah?" I asked, leaning against the wall.

" _Uh…great. Yeah, we're good."_  I frowned. There was something off about her voice.  _"We're great. You uh, you didn't need to check in. We're all good here."_

"Uh…are you sure?" I asked, not entirely sure that I believed her.

" _Yeah, totally. Have fun with Jess."_  She hung up before I could respond. I stood there a moment, knowing full well that something was wrong. Oh, Jess was not going to like this.

** Oliver's POV **

"This is a bad idea." I sang softly as I followed the girls down into the underground chamber. They ignored me, Skylar walking with one hand trailing across the left wall while Rani was reading through her spell book as she walked. I sighed, pushed down the feeling that I was right, and continued after them.

After about fifty feet, the tunnel opened up into a large chamber, looking pretty much like the set of an Indian Jones movies. It was the whole deal – ancient carvings of birds on the wall, bulky statues of guards in each corner of the room, and, in the very center of it, a massive, rectangular coffin.

"Okay, this is creepy." Skylar admitted, pulling out her phone to use as a flashlight. She swept the beam onto one of the statues. "Especially him."

"Ignore him." I suggested, glancing behind me.

"I can't. It's like he's watching me." She replied, swaying to either side while keeping her eyes locked on the statue. She shuddered before moving on to look at the inscriptions on the walls.

They were all the same inscription, a continuous pattern of letters and symbols, though they were impossible to read. It reminded me of the symbols in Rani's spell book, but at the same time, they were completely different. I turned to ask her if she knew what they said, then noticed how she was examining the coffin.

"Please don't tell me you're going to open that." I called, trying to draw her attention away from it. It probably had a gross-looking mummy inside.

"It might have the grimoire inside." She insisted. She grunted in exertion as she tried and failed to open it. "Oliver, you're supposed to be strong, right?"

"Supposed to be?" I questioned. She gave me a look.

"You don't exactly look like it." She pointed out. I rolled my eyes. "Are you going to help me or not?"

"No way. I'm not helping you open up that creepy-ass coffin." I retorted. She scowled at me, annoyed.

"Oh, for goodness's sake." Skylar muttered, walking up to the coffin. She put two hands on the lid and started to move it, the lid scraping noisily against the walls of the coffin. But before she could get it move it more than an inch, something else in the room began to move. Four somethings.

"The statues are alive?" Rani demanded, spinning around as the block-like statues began to move towards us.

"You have got to be kidding me." Skylar muttered, shaking her head.

** Chase's POV **

"Cool." Calla smiled, turning the magazine over in her hands, examining it with an expert eye as she leaned back in her chair. We'd immediately found her and Leo in the mentor's old quarters when we'd returned, though Alivia had called her on the way to give her the head's up. "Space metal."

"So Chase was right, it isn't manmade?" Jaden questioned. I sent him an annoyed look. "It's a fair question; just because it's not in your database, doesn't mean that some company hasn't developed a new mineral. Didn't they do that in Ironman or something?"

"You watch too many movies." I grumbled.

"Boys." Bree warned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"It's not manmade. Alivia, I checked those files like you told me to, and you're right; it's alien." Calla confirmed. She glanced at Leo, who typed a couple of things into his IPad. The monitor above the desk turned on to reveal an image of a meteorite crash site, somewhere in the north. "This is the Tamarack Lake Asteroid. It crashed down in Pennsylvania about sixteen years ago."

"In it, traces of a new mineral were found. I don't know what it's called, but it's pretty cool." Leo continued. He gestured at the magazine still in Calla's hands. "It's not the strongest substance in the world, but it is the most durable. Nothing can break this."

"Well…" Calla trailed off and we all looked at her. "Clearly, that's not true, since it had to be cut and shaped like this, but I have no idea what would be able to do that."

"Why haven't we heard about this before?" Rio questioned, leaning against the wall.

"Men in Black took it, right?" Adam guessed. I looked at him. "Jaden's not the only one who watches movies."

"He's right though; the government would deal with the asteroid. They wouldn't want something like that falling into the wrong hands." Alivia mentioned before I could call him an idiot. Adam smirked smugly.

"Thank you, Geminus." He replied while smirking at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Which agency?" I asked, looking at Calla and Leo.

"No idea." Leo replied. He glanced at Calla before continuing. "CIA, MI6, FBI, we've checked every agency, even UPSEI. There's not a mention of it. Hell, the only reason we have the information we have is because Clone Master was first on the scene."

"Is it possible that the League recovered it?" Jaden questioned. Alivia shook her head.

"No. I've been through all their files – my father was the only one with references to it." The Irish hero shook her head.

"Then it is possible that a villain got a hold of it. Truth is, it doesn't matter who grabbed it first." I mentioned. "It could have been passed around, stolen, given away, throughout the years."

"He's right. There's no guarantee that whoever took it first still has it." Bree agreed. She looked at Calla and Leo. "Is there any way to track it?"

"Not really. I've set MISS and Eddy up to both get alerts if anything similar hits the internet, but it's a long shot." Calla replied with a sigh.

"What about your idea to ping Kieran and Taylor's chips?" Rio asked, frowning. Leo shook his head.

"The signal should have bounced – at least, that's how Douglas and Krane designed them to in case of a situation like this – but nothing. It's like it got absorbed or something." He explained.

"Which means there's serious protection around wherever they're being held." Calla added, annoyed.

"So, what? We learned nothing from today?" Rio demanded, crossing her arms. Alivia gave her a sympathetic smile.

"We learned that whoever took them means serious business. We also know that they're most likely alive." She added. Rio frowned, not really sure where she got that from. "I assume the chips would still ping, even if they were dead?" Alivia confirmed, glancing at Calla. She nodded slowly. "If our friends were dead, they'd just dump the bodies somewhere, not bring them back to their base, which we can only assume they're at because of the protection. So, it makes more sense that they're locked up somewhere, alive."

"That's a lot of assumptions." Jaden noted.

"Well, we don't have much more than that, do we?" Alivia challenged. He sighed.

"I suppose." He agreed.

"I just wish we knew more." Bree added.

"We'll find them." I promised, looking particularly at Rio and Alivia. "It's just going to take some time."

"I just hope they have time." Rio sighed before walking away. Adam watched her go, then glanced at us.

"Is she going to be okay?" Jaden asked, concerned. We all knew how close she and Kieran were – this must be killing her. Adam nodded.

"Yeah. And if not…well, I'll be there." He replied. He smiled at us. "I should go check on her though."

"Yeah." I nodded and he jogged off, calling her name. Leo looked at us.

"You guys spending the night?" He asked.

"Yeah, doesn't make much sense to go home this late." Calla replied. I glanced at my watch, not having realized how late it was.

"Dang. Yeah, good call, babe." I agreed. I looked at the others. "Order a pizza, I guess?"

** Kaz's POV **

The door opened up just as I was in the middle of knocking for the second time. I whistled when I saw Dani, half amused.

"Looking good, Short." I teased. Her hair was a mess, there was spit-up on her shirt, her eyes were red as if she'd been crying, and she was still bouncing Noah gently up and down, all while the five-month-old cried.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded, surprised, even as she stepped back to let me into Bree and Jaden's apartment.

"You sounded desperate." I replied, placing the plastic bag I'd brought with me on the counter before reaching out for Noah. She handed him over without hesitation, relief washing over her face.

"I think he's got a fever or something. He won't eat, he's sick about four times." She informed me as I settled the still-crying kid in my arms. "I was in the middle of dialing Jaden's number when you knocked."

"Let's see." I pulled Noah closer to my chest so I could free one of my hands to check his forehead. "Yeah, maybe…I've got some infant Tylenol in my bag."

"You do?" Dani frowned before going through the plastic bag.

"Thought he might be sick and figured it was better to be safe than sorry." I explained as she opened the bottle and handed it to me. She then pulled out a box of frozen tofu-pops and held it up, looking at me questioningly. "For later?"

"You're staying?" She asked, surprised. I nodded and tried to give the medicine to the baby, but Noah stubbornly pulled his head away.

"Might as well. I brought a couple of movies too." I told her. I sighed, looking at Noah. "Why don't you go change and I'll handle this?"

"Change?" She glanced down at her shirt, having forgotten the little mess Noah had left behind. "Damn it! Thanks, Kaz." She started to head towards the guest room, where I assume she'd brought her overnight bag, but then stopped at the door. "Seriously Kaz, thank you."

I just gave her a smile, watched as she went into the room, then looked back at Noah. "Alright little buddy, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Which is it?"

** Xxx **

"You are a godsend." Dani sighed happily, sitting down on the couch next to me. Noah had finally eaten and gone to sleep after taking the medicine and was now happily dreaming away in his crib. Dani, now changed into a clean shirt, and I were sitting on the couch, snacking on tofu pops while an old superhero movie played in the background. "Jess must be pissed though."

"She's…she's not thrilled, but she gets it." I assured her. Well, actually, she was more than pissed. She didn't understand why Dani couldn't handle a kid on her own, or why I had to run over, but I got the feeling that she was more annoyed with the fact that it was Dani I was helping rather than me leaving the date to help take care of Noah. "I'll make it up to her. There's this play next week that I know she wants to see – I'll get us tickets or something."

"You could have stayed. I would have figured all this out…eventually." Dani waved her hands vaguely in the direction of Noah's room. I shook my head.

"It's fine. What are friends for?" I replied. She gave me a thin smile.

"So," She sat up, turning so that she was facing me, "I have a question, about Jessica, but I don't want to ask her because I don't think she'll appreciate it."

I frowned. "Shoot."

"She's an actress, right?" I nodded. "What is she even in? I tried finding her online, but she's in, like, nothing."

"She hasn't had much luck in getting roles. She's more of an aspiring actress than a professional one." I replied, frowning. "Why were you googling my girlfriend?"

"Uh…" Dani hesitated before sighing. "She doesn't seem to like me much, and I thought maybe we could bond over some of the stuff she's been in, but I can't find anything at all."

"Why do you care if she likes you?" I asked, confused. Dani shrugged.

"She's going to be around a lot, so I figured I might as well be friends with her." She replied. I shook my head.

"You don't have to, you know. Just because we're together, doesn't mean you have to be friends with her." I told her. "I mean, it'd be great if you were, but don't force it, okay?"

"Okay." She agreed, leaning back in the couch again, our shoulders brushing a little as she went down. She glanced over at me. "How'd that happen, anyway? She doesn't really seem like your type."

I shrugged. "We've got a bit in common. Calla set it up the first time." I replied. Dani frowned.

"The first time?" She repeated. I nodded.

"Our first date didn't go that well, but then she called me up a few months later and we tried again." I explained. She nodded thoughtfully. "So, what it like living at League's base? I can't imagine you and Rani living together under the same roof?"

"Because it's the weirdest and most unexpected friendship ever?" Dani guessed, laughing.

"Yeah, pretty much." I agreed.

"Well, it was pretty weird at first. And we kept going way overboard in training. But eventually-" She was cut off midsentence by Noah's crying, coming loud and clear through the baby monitor. "Damn it, kid."

"I've got it." I told her, starting to get up, but she gently pushed me back on the couch.

"You already saved the day. The least I can do is take the first turn at quieting him down." She told me, not giving me the chance to object before heading for the kid's room. I shrugged, grabbed another tofu pop out of the box, and leaned back on the couch, waiting for her to come back.

** Oliver's POV **

I ducked low to the ground as the statue took a swing as my head, narrowly avoiding getting my skull caved in by a massive, fifty-pound, rock fist. However, with my attention focused on the first statue, it gave the second one a chance to come up behind me. He punched me hard in the back, knocking me to the ground, the air fleeing from my lung. Gasping for air, I rolled to the side as the statue tried to step on me. I raised a hand at the statue and blasted it with as much ice as I could muster, but it didn't seem to affect the statue in the slightest, the ice just melting off it as soon as I finished my attack.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rani and Skylar dealing with similar problems. Skylar's energy blast could normally take enemies out without a hitch, but all of her blasts were disappearing the moment they touched the statues. And despite the shadows painted on the wall by the dim lighting in here, all of Rani's darkness attacks were flying through the statues, as if they weren't really there.

"This isn't working!" Skylar shouted before gracefully cartwheeling backwards to avoid a statue's fists.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Rani shouted back, stumbling a little as she barely avoided being smashed together by not one, but two different statues. "Why though?"

"They're magic!" I realized it as I said it. It made sense, and really, was there another explanation for us being attacked by freaking statues?

"Try a spell!" Skylar shouted, leaping into the air to avoid a statue's foot.

"Right!" Rani nodded quickly, backing away from the statue and pulling out her spell book. But before she could cast a spell, the statues she was fighting descended upon her, all while she was preoccupied by looking for a spell to do what she needed. One of them slammed in her side, knocking her to the ground. Her spell book went flying from her hand, landing off to the side as the second statue charged at her, pushing her into the wall. His hand, still in the form of a rocky fist, pressed against her throat, effectively cutting off her oxygen supply.

"Rani!" Skylar shouted, wanting to help but too busy dealing with her own statue to be able to. I tried to get to her magic-user but was blocked by my own statue.

Rani, meanwhile, had one hand on the statue's fist, trying in vain to dislodge it, while the other was pointing desperately at her spell book, her mouth moving as she tried to communicate something to us. I lunged for the book, rolling across the ground to avoid the statue's fists, and swept it up in my hands. Glancing once more at Rani to make sure I wasn't mistaken when I thought I saw her mouthing the word 'twelve', I quickly flipped to the twelfth page.

I backed up as a statue charged at me, careful to avoid the mistake of not giving them at least part of my attention, then glanced at the page. There were a few phrases in it that I didn't recognize, but one of them was underlined in sparkly purple pen (oh, I would make fun of Rani for that if she wasn't terrifying). Next to it, written in the same color ink, were the words 'EMERGENCIES ONLY'.

Well, this was an emergency. I raised my hand, hoping that was what I was supposed to do because it was impossible to understand what I was reading, and shouted "Prohibere omnes magicae!"

Suddenly, every one of the statues froze in place. Skylar didn't question it for a second, instead rushing to Rani's side and shoving the statue back. It didn't move much, but just enough for Rani to slide out of its grip. "You okay?" Skylar demanded as she leaned against the wall, breathing deeply. Rani nodded, rubbing her throat.

"Thanks." She nodded appreciatively at me. I handed her back her spell book.

"What did I just do?" I questioned. "And by the way, how? I'm not a magic user."

"You negated…the magic." She cleared her throat. "And anyone can use magic; you just need to know how."

"For how long?" Skylar asked, eyeing the statues warily.

"About an hour." Rani replied, heading for the coffin.

"Are you serious?" I asked her incredulously. She gave me a half-smile.

"Don't you want to see what all this trouble's been about?" She asked before starting to push on the lid. I sighed and started to help her, using my super strength to shove it off of the coffin altogether. It landed on the floor with a loud  _crack_ , the lid splitting down the middle before settling in the dust.

"Oh thank God." I muttered in relief when we discovered that there wasn't a body inside the coffin. Instead, there was a cloth-bound book, about the size of an encyclopedia. Rani pulled the cloth away to reveal weird writing on the cover, above the image of a black bird. "Is that it?"

"Yeah, this is the grimoire." Rani smiled triumphantly, holding it tightly in her hands. She smiled at us. "See, it wasn't that hard."

Skylar and I both looked at her, then exchanged glances. "We're leaving you here." Skylar declared, grabbing my hand and half-dragging me towards the stairs.

** Kaz's POV **

"…Kaz? Kaz, wake up." I felt something land on my shoulder, shaking it gently. I groaned, turning my head back into the pillow. "Kaz, I brought breakfast."

I opened my eyes at that to see Bree standing over me, a bemused expression on her face. "I can't believe that worked." Jaden chuckled, walking into the room with Noah in his arms. I glanced to my left to see Dani slowly waking up on her side of the couch, the blanket I'd draped over her when she finally fell asleep now crumpled in a ball on the ground. He glanced at us, equally bemused as his wife. "Have a nice night?"

"Ugh." Dani groaned, rubbing her face. She glanced at them, then nodded at Noah. "He got sick a little, so we gave him some Tylenol-"

"The one for babies." I added when I saw Bree's expression at that. She nodded, turning back to Dani.

"And then he woke us up about twice in the middle of the night." Dani added.

"What are you doing here?" Bree asked, looking at me.

"She's terrible with kids?" I tried.

"I needed back up." Dani explained. Jaden chuckled and nodded in understanding. Bree took Noah from him, smiling at her son, while Jaden pulled out his wallet.

"How much do I owe you?" He asked, glancing at Dani. She glanced at me, then looked Jaden in the eye, deadly serious.

"I'll make you a deal: you don't have to pay me a cent," she said slowly, "if you never ask me to do this again."

Jaden and Bree both raised an eyebrow at that. I sighed, standing up and stretching. "Take the deal. It's in everyone's best interest." I suggested.


	4. Somewhere in Time

** Oliver's POV **

"Okay, the new target is…" Dani twisted around midair, looking around the surrounding buildings before smirking. "The T on the Walmart sign."

"Easy." I took a moment to prepare a ball of ice before launching it at the sign. Despite the fact that the sign was over 200 feet away, I hit it with perfect accuracy. "Ten points!"

"You used your super strength to help you hit it! That's cheating!" Dani accused, though the laughter in her tone told me she wasn't all that upset.

"Well, this is technically training, so I'm supposed to use it." I teased. She gave me a look. "How about five points?"

"Fine." She chuckled. "That makes it, what? Thirty to twenty-five?"

"You better catch up." I joked, before looking for a target to challenge her with. Late night target practice around the city once a week had become a sort of tradition for us since Dani had returned to Centium City. I knew she'd be leaving as soon as we found the others, but for now, it was kinda like old times.

"Please, I'll kick your butt. First to fifty wins, remember?" She teased, just as her phone began to vibrate.

"Alright, how about you take…" I trailed off, noticing the deep frown on my sister's face as she looked at the caller ID. Letting out an irritated sigh, she blocked the call and pocketed the phone. "Everything okay?"

"Peachy. Where do I shoot?" She asked. Her phone went off again, but she merely ignored it, forcing a smile on her face.

"Is it Kaz?" I asked tentatively, wondering if that was the issue. I'd noticed things had been a little awkward between them since she got back, and with Kaz and Jessica currently in the middle of some fight (I wasn't sure if Dani knew about that though), I wasn't sure what was going on with them. There was an ongoing bet between everyone else in the team whether or not the two of them would get back together, and though I'd managed to avoid picking a side, I was curious how things would turn out.

"No, why would I avoid his calls?" Dani frowned, confused. I shrugged. "It's nothing, Ollie. Just ignore it."

"Alright…" I sighed. I shrugged, getting back into the swing of things. "Okay, so your target is-"

This time, it was my phone that began to ring. I reached to grab it, noting Dani's apprehensive gaze. Once I checked the number though, then realized who'd be calling me from that number, it all came together. "Well, that explains why you're ignoring your phone."

"Don't answer it." Dani asked me, her expression pleading. I sighed, then answered the call.

"What do you want?" I asked, instead of my usual greeting.

** Kaz's POV **

"Morning." I greeted, making my way into the kitchen early in the morning. To my surprise, the house was abuzz with life, despite the early hour. Alivia and Skylar were in the living room, debating whether it would be a good idea to reintroduce the idea of sidekicks into the New League of Heroes, or if they should just continue with their pattern of treating everyone like heroes, just with different levels of experience, while Rani, Calla, and Chase were at the kitchen table, all working on different projects as they ate their breakfast. Only Dani and Oliver were missing from the Penthouse, though I had no idea where either of the twins were.

"Hey." Alivia gave me a friendly wave as I passed her on my way to the kitchen. "Have you seen Dani or Oliver?"

"No, but Oliver left a note saying they were taking the day off to 'deal with some family stuff." I quoted before grabbing a plate of breakfast and shoveling a massive bite of bacon. "They should be back later."

"What does Jessica see in you?" Alivia asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust when I spoke with my mouth full. I shrugged.

"No idea." I admitted, taking another bite. Skylar chuckled in amusement, filling a plate for herself and sitting down next to Rani and Calla. She was about to dig in when she noticed what Calla was eating.

"Pregnancy cravings?" She guessed as we watched Calla dig her spoon into the bowl of strawberry ice cream, chopped onions, and mustard. She nodded before taking a bite.

"I don't even like strawberry ice cream." She commented after swallowing.

"Yes, because that's the weirdest part about what you're eating." Rani commented, giving her a look. Calla didn't exactly argue with that.

"You're going to be a weird kid." She said to her stomach before continuing to eat and work.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked curiously.

"Well, I'm going through some papers, she's trying to design a device that'll turn magic into a real energy source, and Rani's…doing something."

"I'm translating the spells in here," Rani gestured at the large spell book on the left, "using this translator," she gestured to a secondary book, "and I'm writing down the spells I can use in here." She tapped the top of a purple striped notebook.

"Is there anyth-" I began, only to be cut off by one the weirder things to ever happen in this penthouse: a giant wormhole, a faded gold circle midair that opened up in front of the veranda. A young man in his early twenties, dressed in a black and gold trench coat, leapt out before the wormhole disappeared. Before any of us could recover from our surprise enough to react, he raised a large, silvery blaster at us and slowly backed towards the door. He bolted quickly, leaving the door wide open in his wake. "Okay, did that actually just happen, or am I still dreaming?"

"…What?" Alivia demanded. We all turned and looked at the others, well Rani and Calla.

"Why are you looking at us?" The latter demanded, confused.

"Because when something that weird happens, it's usually either your freaky-ass tech," I nodded at Calla, "or your creepy-ass magic." He finished, looking at Rani.

"That…that's a fair point." Calla reluctantly agreed, unoffended.

"It wasn't us!" Rani snapped. "I have no idea who that was."

Before anyone could ask another question about what the hell had just happened, another wormhole, this one light blue in color, appeared barely a foot away from us. This time, two people, a man and woman about our age, jumped out.

The first was a tall, blonde haired guy, with tanned skin and a dark blue, leather suit, eerily familiar to our mission suits in style. The only differences were the lack of black pattern that had been carefully placed in each of ours, as well as a strange insignia on his chest: it was of a circle with a lightning bolt running upwards through it. The second to jump out was a young woman with warm bronze skin and long black hair pulled into a tight ponytail. She was wearing a black leather jacket over an emerald green shirt and black pants. Unlike her companion, she was armed with a black and blue blaster, similar to the first guy's, but smaller.

Both of them looked momentarily surprised, the girl much more so than the guy. Actually, if I were being frank, she seemed genuinely shocked, a reasonable reaction to randomly appearing in someone else's apartment. The guy, on the other hand, recovered much more quickly. "Hey, I don't suppose you guys have seen this guy we're chasing? About yay-high, black and gold trench coat?" I silently pointed towards the door, eyes wide. "Thanks!" The guy grinned, grabbed the girl's arm, and pulled her out the door in search of the trench-coated man.

"Why did you answer them?" Skylar questioned, looking at me. I shrugged, not having a good answer for what had just been an instinctual response.

"Follow them!" Chase snapped at us, racing after them.

"Our lives are so weird." Alivia muttered as she got up to follow him. Rani, Skylar, and I followed suit, chasing after our leaders.

** Xxx **

We barely caught up to them on the street, just managing to catch sight of the girl as she turned down an alleyway. "C'mon!" Chase snapped at us, tearing off after her. As we turned the corner, we found that the two that had portalled into our penthouse second had cornered the first guy, one on either side of him. The girl had her weapon aimed, clutching it tightly, while her companion was weaponless, though if I had to guess by his uniform's similarity to many superhero and supervillain costumes, he didn't necessarily need a weapon. In between the two of them, the trench-coated guy had his weapon aimed at the guy, with his hand extended towards the girl.

"Stand down, Saturn." The girl warned, adjusting her grip on her blaster. The guy named Saturn merely rolled his eyes. "Stand down, and we'll go easy on you."

"Nice try, princess." Saturn retorted, extending his fingers. A blast of lightning exploded from his hands, aimed right at the girl. She dropped to one knee, raising one arm to shield herself. A literal shield, looking like a smaller version of Chase's plasma shield, appeared, protecting her from the attack. Meanwhile, her partner lunged at Saturn, attempting to tackle him, only for Saturn to shoot the blue-suited guy in the chest with his blaster, the shot a sharp burst of gold. The blast knocked him to the ground, stunning his briefly. The girl went to take her own shot, but this time, a flying plasma ring flew in front of her, destroying her focus. Glancing behind me, I saw Calla making her way towards us, hand reaching up to catch the plasma ring as it soared back towards her.

"You should be inside." Chase cautioned her. She gave him a look.

"Some breaks into my home, I'm defending it. Besides, you were taking too long." She reminded him. She looked at Saturn and the other two. "Look, why don't we all take a breath, talk this out? At least stop attacking each other long enough to explain why and how you appeared in our living room."

"Yeah…not feeling it." Saturn retorted, aiming his weapon at Calla and firing. Two force fields went up at the same time, one from Chase and the other from the girl, both instantly protecting the pregnant woman. Most of us looked at the girl in surprise, but before anyone could question what she'd done, Saturn raised his hand and another portal appeared. "Well, it's been a pleasure."

"No, you don't!" The guy shouted, racing after Saturn to try and stop him, but the trench-coated young man disappeared through the portal before the blue-suited guy could stop him. He barely reached us as the portal disappeared. The two strangers exchanged looks, then turned on us. "Calla, you let him get away! What the hell?"

"I'm sorry, how do you know my name?" She demanded in response. That caused both of them to freeze in their tracks.

"Yeah, okay, start talking. Who are you?" I demanded.

"Uh…" The guy looked her over, deciding how much of a threat she was. "None of your business?"

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Rani grabbed the guy by the arm and spun him around. She raised one hand, smoky slivers of darkness surrounding the clenched fist. He looked down at it, suddenly nervous. "Who are you, how do you know our names, where did you come from, and how did you appear in our penthouse?"

"And who was that guy?" Alivia added. "Why were you attacking him?"

"Well?" Rani prompted, tightening her grip on the guy's arm. He blanched, eyes darting towards the girl.

"Uh, shutterbug, you wanna take this one?" He called.

"Nah, you've got this." His friend responded. He gave her a look, and she smirked. "Hey, you said the Nyx doesn't scare you. You said you were stronger than everyone in the NLH."

"Is that so?" Rani smiled, as if it were the most interesting thing she'd ever heard. She grinned, teeth bared in almost a fearsome expression.

"You're not helping." The guy told his friend.

"Wasn't trying to." She replied, her voice fake-sweet. Chase stepped closer to the girl, eyebrows raised as he waited for either of them to answer the question. "Uh, you're not going to believe us."

"Try us." I challenged. She gulped nervously.

"Okay…Well, I'm Naomi." She said slowly.

"Naomi…?" Calla trailed off purposefully, waiting for a last name so she could do some sort of background search. Naomi hesitated, glancing at her friend. He shook his head.

"Davenport. Naomi Davenport." She clarified. She bit her lip and raised her eyebrows before continuing in a slightly nervous tone. "I'm your sister, half-sister…ish. I'm Donald and Tasha's daughter. We're from the future."

We all just stared at her. "Oh, Oliver and Dani are so going to regret missing this."

** xxx **

"Seriously?" Bree demanded the moment I opened the front door, pushing past me immediately, while Jaden followed much slower, Noah asleep in his stroller. "Time travel?"

"According to them." Chase wasn't quite convinced yet. Bree looked at us, eyes wide, before turning to the two time travelers seated on the couch.

"You're Naomi. You're my sister." She didn't quite believe it either, judging by her tone. Naomi smiled at her.

"Yeah. Hi Bree, it's good to see you." She replied. She glanced at her friend. "This is Ben VanOver, by the way."

"People call me Aftershock." He stood up, holding out his hand to shake. Bree frowned, looking him over.

"Wait, Ben VanOver?" Jaden frowned. He glanced at Skylar and I. "Isn't that-"

"Tecton's son. That's who he claims to be." Alivia confirmed.

"It's the truth." Ben snapped, annoyed.

"I told you that you wouldn't believe us." Naomi replied, shaking her head. She glanced at Ben. "Why does this stuff always happen to us?"

"Hey, it's your whack-job family." He retorted. She gave him a look, to which he responded with a smirk.

"How would you two even meet?" Skylar questioned.

"There was a party for the tenth anniversary of Mighty Med 2.0. I got dragged along because she funded the project, and rather than sit around and be bored, all of the kids locked themselves in the cafeteria and had a food fight with the left overs." Naomi explained with a shrug.

"We kicked butt." Ben smirked.

"Yeah we did." Naomi fist-bumped Ben while keeping her eyes on us.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Chase questioned. Ben hesitated, then reached into his pocket.

"Check it out." He pulled out a phone-like device, but when he hit what I had thought was the home button, a holographic image of folders popped up from it. He selected one of the folders, which opened to reveal several photos. Ben zoomed in on one of the photos, revealing an image of Calla, Chase, Adam, Rio, Bree, Jaden, Leo, Katherine, Naomi, and six kids and teenagers, their ages appearing to range from early teens (the oldest being a dark-haired boy that vaguely resembled Jaden), to maybe four or five (another boy, with curly brown hair). Aside from Naomi and the six unknown children, everyone we did know looked much older, maybe having aged by about fifteen years, if I had to guess. "This was taken at a party about four years ago."

"What kind of party?" Jaden questioned, noticing that everyone in the photo appeared to be dressed up – the girls in fancy dresses, the guys in suits, and the children in the types of clean, nice-looking clothing that most kids hated wearing simply because they weren't allowed to run around in them.

"It was a celebration. Chase-" Ben was cut off by Naomi quickly, and painfully, stepping on his foot. "What was that for?"

"Regardless of whether or not you believe us, we can't tell you the future." She told us before sending a look at Ben. "Remember what happened when Kaz travelled back in time?"

"Future Kaz stopped Oliver from turning evil. I don't exactly see that as a bad thing." Skylar pointed out.

"Sure." The way Ben said that, it was as if they knew more than they was saying. Like there was a significant reason Naomi had pointed out my time travel adventures. And though I knew Skylar was talking about the time my future self had come back to visit us, all I could think of was of the time travel expedition that most of the others didn't know about. I'd taken the trip almost two years ago, and as far as Alivia, Calla, and I (the only ones to know about the trip) could tell, there'd be very few consequences, aside from saving the lives of a few heroes, and none of them had been bad. But if that was what Naomi was warning Ben about, and if they really were from the future…could I have really done something bad enough to be used as an example of why time travel was bad? I mean, I doubted it, but we all knew how the butterfly effect worked – one little misstep, one wrong thing said, and it could be disastrous. At the time it had seemed like a good idea, but since I hadn't even accomplished what I'd set out to do, I'd been worried about how it might bite us in the butt in the future.

"If you're so worried about not screwing up the future, why'd you travel back in time then?" Rani asked. The two time travelers exchanged looks.

"Well…it really wasn't on purpose." Ben explained with a sheepish chuckle.

"It just kinda happened." Naomi agreed. Jaden chuckled at that. He glanced at Bree and Chase.

"Huh, she just happened to accidently do something weird and science-y that landed them in trouble? Oh yeah, she's definitely a Davenport." He decided.

"I can't believe Dani and Oliver are missing this." I mentioned again, wondering where the hell they were. I had no clue where they were or what they were doing, but whatever it was, no way it was as cool as this was.

"How do you accidently time travel?" Alivia demanded, shaking her head at them. Neither answered verbally, but their simultaneous glances at Calla told us enough.

"You've got to stop inventing dangerous things, Calla." I commented, taking a step back as she fixed me with a look that would rival Medusa's gaze.

"In her defense, the device was stolen. And look, it doesn't matter how we got here, we just need to get back, now." Ben mentioned, glancing at Naomi. "The team needs us."

"I'm sure they can handle one day without us. Besides, Saturn is the priority." She insisted before looking at us. "Look, I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you this: we're facing a new team of villains, Saturn's one of them, and if we're going to figure out what their endgame is, we need to capture him. Before he hurts anyone else."

"I guess we're believing them about them being from the future?" Skylar questioned skeptically. Ben sighed.

"Look, if you really don't believe us, you can test my DNA. All superheroes have their DNA put into the Mighty Med 2.0 system the moment our powers start to develop, right? My super strength came in when I was two. My DNA should already be in the system."

"We do it so that, if the heroes have specific weaknesses, we can create cures or vaccines for them so we're not scrambling in the event of an emergency." I explained when the others gave me questioning looks.

"We can have Horace test your DNA against our Ben's." Skylar agreed.

"Alright. Aftershock, go with Kaz and Alivia to Mighty Med 2.0. Naomi, I want you to stay here and tell me everything you can about Saturn, as much as you can without disrupting the timeline," Chase emphasized when Naomi opened her mouth to object, "Calla, you mind getting MISS to see if you can track down Saturn?"

"How? It's not like he's in our database or something." Skylar pointed out. Calla bit her lip for a moment, considering, then smirked.

"I've got a couple of ideas." She assured us. With that, she turned towards the hidden elevator and headed down to Mission Command without explaining her plan. Skylar, Ben, and I started to leave, but Chase stopped us for a moment.

"Oh, and Kaz?" He called. "See if you can't find out where the twins are. Something tells me we're going to need all the help we can get."

** Oliver's POV **

"Have I mentioned that this is a dumb idea?" Dani questioned, studying her fingernails and not looking at me as she leaned against the wall.

"Several times on the way here." I assured her, twisting around in my seat. "Now sit down, Dee."

She didn't move from where she was. "I hate this, this is stupid and it's not going to accomplish anything. We should leave, like, now."

"I don't entirely disagree with you." I told her. She nodded, thinking I was about to get up and leave with her. "But if she's telling the truth, then we need to hear this."

"Yeah,  _if_  she's telling the truth." Dani retorted, amused by the very idea. "Which she isn't, because she never tells the truth about anything."

"You do remember the part when you spent an entire eight months lying to me and the rest of the team, right?" I questioned, giving her a hard stare. She didn't flinch under my gaze though.

"That is exactly my point, Ollie. It's all lies." Her voice was softer, less angry and sounding as if she were tired of trying to prove this point. Before I could try to reassure her once again that we wouldn't be here long, a buzzer went off down the hall. A second later, Agent Castellano opened the door and walked my mother into the room. She was dressed in a green prison uniform, her hands restrained by power-nullifying cuffs.

"Oliver, Danica." She smiled at us as Castellano attached her cuffs to the table in front of me. Dani pointedly ignored her, continuing to study her fingernails as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"You have fifteen minutes." Castellano warned us before leaving the interrogation room that Dani had managed to get us by calling in a few favors.

"You two look good. Danica, did you redo your hair?" Mom told us. I didn't need to use my telepathic link with Dani to tell that she was quickly running out of patience for our mother.

"Hey," I interrupted my mother, giving her a cold stare. "You said you had vital information for us. So talk."

** Kaz's POV **

By time we got back, the DNA results confirming Ben's identity, the others were already deep in conversation with Naomi, Chase jotting down a list of the things they were learning about Saturn.

"Did he check out?" Chase called the moment we stepped into the penthouse.

"One hundred percent; he's Baby Tecton." I assured him. Ben gave me a look, offended. "Sorry, Adult Baby Tecton."

"It's Ben. Or Aftershock." The time traveler corrected. He sighed irritably. "I'm twenty-two, for God's sake. People seriously need to stop calling me Baby Tecton."

"Easy, VanOver." Naomi cautioned, before glancing at us. "He's sensitive."

"No, I'm not." Ben retorted. Naomi rolled her eyes, amused.

"So do you have enough proof, or what?" She questioned, looking at us. Chase sighed.

"Okay, we believe you." He assured her. He turned to Skylar and I.

"Alright, here's what we know. Saturn's electrokinetic like Dani, but much more powerful – he's electro-telekinetic as well, and apparently can use his electricity to create much bigger things than just lightning balls." Calla explained.

"Electro-telekinetic?" I asked, eyes widening. Chase sighed.

"It means that he can move things without touching them, much like my telekinesis, but through the power of static electricity instead of psychic ability." He explained.

"No, I know what it means." I retorted before looking at Skylar and Alivia, hoping they could confirm the thoughts running through my head. "Electrokinesis, electro-telekinesis, weren't those…"

"Megahertz's powers?" Ben questioned, crossing his arms. I frowned, nodding. "Saturn's his son."

"Wait, he reproduced?" Alivia demanded, shocked. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "With who?"

"Yeah, that's a mystery you guys have been trying to figure out since we first learned about him." Naomi replied.

"Okay, so what's the plan? We track him down, catch him, then send all of you back to the future?" Bree asked, glancing at Naomi and Ben.

"Yeah, about that…how do we do that exactly?" Ben questioned, turning more to talk to Naomi than the rest of us. "I mean, it was Discordia's device that accidently sent us here. We weren't planning on time travelling…were we?"

"No!" Naomi retorted.

"Well, with your family, it's hard to tell sometimes." He defended himself.

"He does have a point." Rani announced, leaning on the back of the couch behind Naomi. "I mean, how are we supposed to get them back to the future? Are we stuck with them?"

"We can  _not_  be stuck here." Ben deadpanned, looking briefly panicked at the very thought.

"Well, we do have a working time machine." Jaden pointed out. Rani, Ben, and Naomi all gave him quizzical looks.

"Calla built one a year and a half ago." Chase explained. He looked at his wife. "But can it travel with three people?"

"No. It's a one-person ride, and since it can't travel across time without someone piloting it, you can't just make numerous trips." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "So, not only do we have to figure out how to find and stop Saturn, but we also have to figure out how to send all three of them through time."

"Actually, about finding Saturn, I had an idea." Calla pulled out her tablet and handed it over to Ben. The screen was showing a map of the city, with two little, yellow blips flashing on it, both sitting in the center of the map. "Okay, so when I was originally building my time machine, I noticed that the Zeta fuel gave off radiation waves. Nothing harmful," she assured us quickly, noting Naomi and Ben's alarmed expressions, "but enough that I can track it."

"Okay, I'm guessing these are us?" Naomi questioned, leaning over the edge of the couch to peer over Ben's shoulder. Calla nodded in confirmation. "Shouldn't Saturn be on here?"

"He should, but he isn't." Calla confirmed, pleased that Naomi had drawn the conversation where she wanted it to go. "Which means that he must be underground, since that's the only place I wouldn't be able to track him. Which he must be in the-"

"Tunnels underneath the entire city, I know." Naomi told her. "I started mapping the tunnels a month ago with your daughter. Now, I'm familiar with the tunnels on this half of the city," she drew a line with her finger down through the map, "but she mapped this section."

"Wait, back up. Daughter?" Skylar questioned, glancing at Calla and Chase to see if they already knew about this, but they looked just as surprised as us. Naomi's eyes widened.

"Oh, crap, you didn't know the gender yet?" She smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

"Well, I guess we can cross half the name suggestions off the list." Calla mumbled to Chase.

"And that means that Hot Dog is still in the running!" I grinned.

"We are not naming our daughter 'Hot Dog', Kaz." Chase sighed.

"Wait, she was almost named 'Hot Dog'?" Ben chuckled. "Oh, I'm so going to tease her about that later."

"Don't." Naomi chided, albeit a little amused herself.

"Uh, back to the point guys?" Rani called. "It's great that, once he comes above ground again, we can find Saturn, but we still have to worry about catching him."

"And getting us back to our present." Ben added.

"Okay, we split up then. Two teams, each dealing with a problem." Chase decided. "Calla and I will stay here and work on the time travel problem-"

"I'll help too." Naomi offered. "I may not be our team's resident genius, but I did intern at Davenport Industries for a couple of years in high school."

"I'll stay behind too." Rani added. Alivia frowned at her suspiciously.

"Why?" She questioned. She shrugged.

"New spell book, new spells, I might be of some use." She reasoned. Alivia still frowned, as if she believed there was some ulterior motive to her decision, but she didn't argue it.

"The rest of us will take the tunnels." Skylar decided. "Ben, Kaz, and Bree, you guys take the north side of the city, Alivia, Jaden and I will take the south."

"Here." Naomi offered Alivia her phone. "I've got a map of that half of the city on there."

"Thanks." Alivia smiled at her gratefully before turning back to the rest of us. "Call the other team immediately if you find him, alright?"

"If he leaves the tunnels and comes about ground, we'll know immediately." Calla told us, gesturing to her tablet. "We'll call you if that happens."

"Good." I nodded in agreement. "If we can't find him in…two hours, we meet back here to come up with a new plan?"

"Agreed." Jaden nodded.

** Oliver's POV **

"I know neither of you are my biggest fans, but you're still my children, and it's still my job to protect you." Mom began, only to be cut off by Dani's laugh.

"Fine job you're doing in here." My sister commented. I gave her a look – as much as I agreed with her sentiment, it would be better to at least hear what my mother had to say before dismissing it – then turned back to Mom.

"We can protect ourselves." I told her. She nodded.

"I know, and I am so proud of how powerful you two have become. And I'm sure Kaz and Skylar will have your backs." She replied. "However, you should at least know who you might have to deal with."

"What are you talking about?" I questioned.

"I have enemies, darling, and some of them will try to extract their revenge through you." She told me. "There are two in particular that I'm concerned about."

"Who?" I asked, frowning.

"I don't know their names – I should, but I don't – but their father was my former boss. The original Mr. Terror."

"Argento." Dani said suddenly, remembering the name. She was looking at my mother with raised eyebrows, suddenly invested in the conversation. "Do they have powers?"

"No, but they were trained in the dark arts. They studied under a villain who called himself Dr. Wrath."

Dani and I exchanged looks. "We know someone who can get us their names if need be." Dani stated. Though Rani, Gulliver, and Chaz had been Dr. Wrath's favorite students, he'd had a wide roster of pupils. Most of them had been tracked down, but many had graduated and disappeared from the superhero world years ago, and with three decades worth of students from Villain University, it wouldn't be easy to find them. But with Rani's help, we'd at least be able to track down those who were still active in the supervillain world.

"Why did you never mention them before?" I asked.

"They wouldn't dare to come after you while I was still ruling as Mr. Terror. It would be suicide, and they both would have known it." Mom explained. "But now that I'm locked up, and I'm sure they've heard about that by now, they have nothing to fear."

"Except for the New League of Heroes and the Elite Force. We'll be fine." Dani replied.

"Why'd you wait so long to warn us?" I questioned. "I mean, it's been a year since we locked you up."

"Well, I've been trying to reach Danica for weeks now, but she hasn't been interested in speaking with me." Mom gave Dani a stern look, only for my sister to roll her eyes in response. "And I've been hearing rumors."

"What sort of rumors?" I asked, frowning.

"Someone has apparently  _replaced me_ ," she scowled as she spoke, "at the top of the supervillain food chain."

"And you think it's one of them." I guessed.

"Children do tend to follow in their parents' footsteps." Mom reasoned.

"Not always." Dani replied. She glanced at me. "I'm done. I'll wait for you outside."

Without waiting for my reply, she turned and walked out the door, nodding in farewell to Castellano as she left.

** Rani's POV **

"Okay, we've got it." Chase announced as he and Naomi re-entered Mission Command, towing in the time machine. It didn't look all that impressive in my opinion – it was essentially just a large car seat with fuel tanks strapped to the back and a control panel in the front. I frowned, noticing the labels under the buttons.

"Why is there a button labeled 'Do not touch Kaz, AJ, and/or Leo'?" I questioned. Calla smirked a little.

"I needed a way to know if one of our favorite idiots screwed around with the machine." She said by way of explanation. I nodded in understanding.

"So you included a button that you knew would be impossible for them to resist." I realized. "That's genius."

"Thank you." She smiled a little at that before crossing her arms. "Okay, I don't want to have to rebuild this if we can avoid it, so let's try and find a way to add on to the original design so it ca take three people instead of just one."

"What if we get a couple more chairs, attach them all to the same fuel source?" I suggested.

"It's not that simple." Chase replied. "The chairs are made of special material, and the calculations for the fuel are based off the weight of one person, not three."

"Not to mention, we have no guarantee that just attaching something to it will guarantee that the attachment time travels as well." Naomi added. "We'd have to seal them together in a material that could withstand the force of time travel."

"You know, I think I have a spell for that." I mentioned. "It can make something indestructible. It's not permanent, and it's certain not specific for time travel, but I think it'll do the job."

"Good." Chase nodded. "I'll go find us the parts we need."

"And I will get to work on the calculations. Hit Davenport Industries last." Calla instructed. "I'll text you how many fuel canisters to grab."

"Got it." Chase nodded. He started to head for the door. "Uh, Naomi, do you mind helping Rani with the spell? I know it wasn't built for time travel, but if you can alter it to make it fit as closely as possible to what we need, then do it. We can't risk this thing breaking up mid-travel."

"Got it." Naomi nodded. I motioned towards the elevator that led to the main floor and followed her inside. The hyperlift sped us up to the main floor, where my spell books waited. But before she could move towards them, I grabbed Naomi's arm, stopping her just outside the elevator.

"We need to talk." I told her. She sighed, as if she'd expected.

"I can't tell you about the future." She told me, pulling away.

"You don't have to give me details. I just need a little." I insisted, stepping in front of her again.

"Nyx, I can't. I'm sorry." She refused, tone hardening. "Now, let's get to work."

She pushed past me and headed for my spell books. "Please." I begged her. She stopped, but didn't turn to look at me. "I need to know how to save him."

"Spotlight." She guessed, glancing back at me. "That's who you're talking about?" I nodded. "I'm sorry, I can't."

"Please." I stepped closer to her. I sighed. "I got captured once, by Dr. Wrath, and Liam, he came for me. He didn't have to, God knows we were barely friends, but he came for me, and he saved me. I can't let him down now."

"You love him." It wasn't a question.

"Yes." I nodded, hoping maybe it would convince her to help us.

"I can't." Naomi genuinely looked like she was upset over the fact that she couldn't tell me anything. "Screwing with time could be seriously bad."

"Can't you tell me anything?" I whispered, desperate. She sighed, leaning on the table with her head bowed. After a long moment, she finally spoke.

"He's alive. They all are." She murmured. She paused for a moment before giving me an apologetic look. "That's all I can say."

"It's enough." It would have to be. Liam was alive, and so were Lily, Kieran, and Taylor. If she couldn't tell me anything more, I could manage. There'd been this fear in the back of my mind for months now that we were looking for bodies, and now that I knew otherwise, it was like a huge weight had lifted off my shoulders. I took a deep breath. "Alright, let's see if we can't find a good spell to help get you guys back to your team."

** Kaz's POV **

"Well, this is boring." I complained as we trudged through the tunnels. There had been no sign of Saturn so far, and Calla hadn't called to tell us that he was out of the tunnels, quickly making this one of the more boring missions I'd been on.

"Stop complaining." Bree rolled her eyes. She quickly increased her pace to match pace with Ben. "So I've got a question for you."

"If I tell you about the future, Naomi will kill me." He reminded her.

"No, no, it's about you and Naomi. You two seem pretty close." She mentioned. "Are you guys together, or just friends?"

"Honestly? No clue. It's complicated." He admitted, looking frustrated. "We're still figure it out."

"Been there." I chuckled, remembering how Dani and I used to be, just before we started dating. I was about to ask him if there was anything we needed to know about the future – I still remembered what my future self had once said about roaches ruling the world, that one time that my future self tried to kill Oliver, and was curious if that had come true yet – when Bree's phone buzzed. She answered it quickly.

"Hey." She greeted. She paused, listening. "Okay, what are the coordinates?"

She waited another second, then hung up. "Saturn's above ground. Calla just sent us the coordinates!"

She sped off in search of the villain, just as the coordinates beeped into my phone. Glancing at them, I realized how close Saturn was. "C'mon," I told Ben, "I know a short cut!"

** Xxx **

"How'd you know about this place?" Ben questioned as we climbed out of a tunnel through a manhole. The manhole opened up in alley behind an old-timey arcade. Saturn was only a block away.

"I brought Dani here on a date once." I mentioned, accepting his hand up. I pushed the manhole cover back into place, then led him out of the alley onto the main street. "Now, Saturn should be around here somewhere…"

"Found him." Ben said instantly, pointing at the sky, where a lightning blast shot into the clouds from below. We exchanged looks, then raced towards the source of the blast.

** Oliver's POV **

"She certainly is angry with me." Mom observed as the door shut behind Dani.

"She sacrificed a lot to take you down. She has every right to be angry." I defended my sister. "I should go to though. Thanks for the heads up about Argento's children."

"Oliver, wait." Mom stopped me as I started to get up. "I know I haven't always been the perfect mother. But you need to listen to me: don't underestimate them. They've had nearly sixteen years to hate me for what I did, and they were old enough to understand exactly what happened to their father. They're older than you, more experienced, don't take this threat lightly."

"We won't. Thank you." I offered her a thin smile, before starting to head for the door. I opened it up, then paused in the doorway. "It's good to see you, Mom."

"You too, darling." She gave me a smile, and I walked away.

** Xxx **

"Do we believe her?" Dani questioned when I got to the car we'd borrowed from the various vehicles Davenport had left at Mission Command for us to use.

"I don't know." I admitted, putting my hands in my pockets as I leaned against the car. "I mean, it could be a real threat. And if she's right about there being a new top dog in the villain world, then it could be related to the others' disappearances."

"I don't know, Ollie. This could all be an excuse just to see us again." Dani reasoned.

"Maybe. Would have been easier to figure that out if you hadn't been snarking at her every chance you got." I mentioned, glancing at her. She didn't answer. "You alright?"

"I hate her." She declared, frustrated.

"She's our mother." I reminded her. Even after everything we'd been through with her, even I couldn't say I hated my mom. She raised us, without Dad, and everything she did had been for us. She may have been a bad person, but she'd never been a bad mother to us.

"I don't care. I hate her." Dani insisted, turning to me. "She has ruined my life."

"That's a little bit of an exaggeration, isn't it?" I asked, giving her an amused smile. She shook her head, crossing her arms.

"I risked everything to stop her. Going undercover, stopping her like that, I lost the team's trust, I lost Kaz, I…" She sighed. "I know those decisions were mine, not hers, but if she'd just…been a good person, none of it would have ever happened."

"But then we wouldn't have powers, we wouldn't be part of this team, probably, you never would have joined the New League of Heroes." I reasoned.

"Alivia strong armed me into the last one." Dani pointed out, losing some of her anger.

"I'm kinda glad she did – I was worried about you, being on your own like that." I told her. She gave me a grateful smile. "Besides, I thought you liked it there."

"Oh, I love it there. I love working with Liv, and Lily, and Liam. Even Rani. But…I don't know. I just miss how it used to be, sometimes." She sighed.

"You don't have to leave, you know. After we find the others, you could stick around." I suggested. "We'd all love it. Kaz included."

She rolled her eyes at that. "Stop it."

"What?" I feigned surprised. She gave me a look.

"Kaz and I have both moved on." She insisted. I raised an eyebrow, not saying anything. "We have!"

"I believe you." I really didn't. I knew how long it took Kaz to stop being so upset about Dani leaving, and I knew his recent problems with Jessica wasn't just Jess overreacting to Dani's return. He hadn't said anything about it, but I could tell his mind was more focused on Dani than it should have been. And it was hardly a secret that Dani had been disappointed to see that Kaz and Jess were still dating when she returned. There was a running bet among the team about whether the two of them would get back together, and even though I hadn't put money on it like the others, I had a feeling I knew which side would win in the end.

"Okay, so what do we tell the others?" Dani questioned, not so subtly changing the topic. "I don't believe her about this, but I think we have to tell them. I don't want them thinking that we're having secret meetings with Mom again. I've just earned their trust back."

"This won't make them not trust you, Dee. But I think you're right about telling them – that way, if Mom's right, we'll prepared, and even if not, there won't be any secrets." I agreed. I pulled out the keys to the car, only to have Dani take them out of my hand. "Dee!"

"Hey, you drove up here. Besides, it's a Lamborghini, Ollie. It may be a Lamborghini SUV, but it's still a Lamborghini. And driving one is on my bucket list." She declared, walking around the car to climb in on driver's side. Chuckling, I opened the passenger side door and climbed in.

** Kaz's POV **

Ben and I raced around a corner to find Bree already facing off against Saturn, the two of them fighting in front of a bus station (I guess he'd been trying to get out of town before Ben or Naomi could track him down). Maybe fighting was the wrong word for what they were doing – it was more like a game of cat and mouse. Bree would speed around either side of the villain, too fast for her to be hit by any of his blasts, then she would try to lunge at him. Saturn was smart though, and perhaps experienced with fighting speedsters, as he knew when to shoot his electricity. Though he never managed to hit her, he was keeping her at bay expertly, the blasts carefully aimed to keep her from ever landing a punch of her own.

"Hey, Saturn!" Ben shouted, leaping at him. He soared through the air, not exactly flying, but staying midair long enough that I suspected that there had been some extra, possibly super, strength in his leap. He twisted at the last minute, anticipating the lightning bolt that Saturn instinctually threw at him, and landed on the ground gracefully. He kicked out a leg, intending to sweep Saturn off his feet, but Saturn side-stepped the attack before kicking Ben in the face. Ben stumbled back when the blow hit, but Bree took the opportunity to race forwards, slamming into Saturn at her top speed. Saturn dropped to one knee, winded by the sudden blow, but quickly recovered, raising one hand and sending out a shot of electricity. It wasn't a lightning blast though, and this 'attack' seemed to wrap itself around Bree, physically lifting her into the air and throwing her into Ben, who had just gotten back to his feet. They both fell back when Bree hit him, leaving me to deal with Saturn solo until they recovered.

I threw my hands out, shooting a ball of fire, about the size of a basketball, at Saturn's head. Figuring that he would deflect it or simply avoid it, as he had been with Saturn and Bree's attacks, I leapt into the air after the fireball, flying towards him. As expected, the fireball was shot with one of Saturn's own lightning blasts, the two attacks cancelling the other out. But I was right behind the fireball, and close enough to land a heavy punch to Saturn's jaw. The blow knocked him to the ground, but it wasn't enough to incapacitate him. The second he hit the ground, he slammed his fist into the ground, and a wave of electricity ran across it. Because I'd made the mistake of landing after the punch, the shock ran through my body, dropping me to the ground instantly. "Ah!" I shouted in pain, landing flat on my back.

"Hey, Trench Coat!" Bree shouted, suddenly back on her feet, apparently far enough from Saturn that the electrical wave didn't affect her. She raced towards him, changing direction last minute to leap at the brick wall instead. She bounced off of it, moving so fast that she looked like a blur in the sky, and leapt at Saturn. He raised his hands, using his electro-telekinesis to catch her midair again. But, if Ben's silent approach was anything to go by, that had been the plan. I pushed myself up, my hands behind my back, and kicked my legs out at the villain, twisting my feet up in his to trip him up. He dropped Bree to try and deal with me, but that was when Ben attacked. He lunged at Saturn from behind, tackling him to the ground.

"Here!" Skylar came out of nowhere, racing forwards and dropping to her knees next to Ben and Saturn, a pair of power-nullifying cuffs in her hands. She quickly restrained the criminal, then nodded at Ben to let him know it was safe to get off of him. Ben rolled off of Saturn, dropping to the ground next to me.

"Took you guys long enough." I commented, teasing, as we got to our feet.

"Well, it's not like we were looking for him on the other side of town or something." Alivia commented sarcastically.

"Guys, it doesn't matter." Jaden told us, lowering his blaster. "We got the guy, right? That's the important part."

"Yes, it is." Ben agreed before bending down to address Saturn. "We're going to have a nice little chat when we get home about you and your little friends, aren't we?"

Saturn didn't respond, instead silently glowering at all of us. "I think he's looking forward to that chat." Alivia smirked, crossing her arms.

** Rani's POV **

"What are you talking about?" I demanded. I'd just barely gotten Naomi to give me a little more information on the others, but she was being extremely vague about everything she was saying, trying to avoid spoiling the future. Before she could answer, though, Chase announced that he and Calla were done filling up the Zeta fuel canisters.

"And you're sure we have enough fuel?" Naomi asked as she helped Chase secure the extra fuel canisters to the additional car seats he'd added to the time machine. Now, three seats were back to back in the shape of a triangle, a large, central fuel canister in the middle. Only one of the seats had a control panel though, preventing the machine from getting confused by multiple orders.

"I'm certain. Based on the approximate weights that you gave me for you, Ben, and Saturn, along with the date you're trying to get to, you should be perfect. There's extra fuel too, just in case one of the variables are incorrect."

"Thank you." Naomi told her sister-in-law, smiling at her just as one of the tunnel entrances slid open.

"Look who we've got!" Kaz announced as the others walked in, dragging Saturn in. The electrokinetic looked like he wanted to run, but with Jaden's blaster aimed at his chest, and Ben walking close enough to subdue him if needed, he wasn't going anywhere.

"Nice." Naomi smiled at Ben, eyes alit with excitement. "This is perfect. We can finally get some information out of this guy."

"And just in time too; the time machine is ready." Chase announced. "We've altered it to seat three, Rani's spell will keep it secure, and you have enough fuel to get back to when you're going."

"Sit down." Jaden gestured at the seat with his blaster, looking at Saturn. The villain scowled, but did as he was told, glaring at us the entire time.

"So, back to the present, I guess?" Ben glanced at Naomi. She nodded, then turned to us.

"Thank you. For helping us get back, and for helping us get Saturn. You have no idea how long we've been trying to capture this guy."

"Anytime. You're family." Bree smiled, giving Naomi a quick hug.

"Stay safe. And try to stay out of trouble a little than we did." Chase chuckled, also hugging her.

"Yeah, neither of those are very likely to happen, but I'll try my best." She promised.

"Good luck with…everything." Ben told us.

"I assume you're talking about our missing friends?" Skylar guessed.

"And other things." Naomi added, glancing at Ben. "Don't worry, it'll all work out."

"Mostly." Bed added.

"Dude!" Naomi snapped, slapping his arm.

"I'm sure we can handle whoever took them. Whom, I suppose, you're not allowed to tell us the identities of?" Alivia tried. Naomi and Ben both responded with apologetic looks. "Well, it was worth a try."

"Good luck." Naomi wished us, climbing into the 'driver's' seat of the time machine.

"You too." Calla replied, nodding at Saturn as Ben got settled. We all waved as Naomi activated the time machine, told it where and when to bring her, and three of them disappeared.

"Well, today was weird." Kaz announced, as if it needed saying.

"Yup." Calla agreed, nodding. She frowned. "I'm never getting that time machine back, am I?"

"I hate to interrupt, but Miss Dani and Mister Oliver have returned and are requesting that everyone meet them in the living room." MISS announced suddenly.

"Figures, they get back from wherever they went just after all the fun is over." Bree sighed. She knelt down next to Noah, who had been playing on his blanket while Calla, Naomi, Chase, and I worked on the time machine, picked him up in her arms, and then led the others towards the elevator. Alivia started to follow them, but I stopped her.

"We'll catch up in a minute." I told them. When they were gone, I turned to my leader. "So, I talked to Naomi."

"I figured. What did she say about Liam, Lily, and the others?" She questioned.

"They're alive." I promised. She smiled at that, relieved and thrilled with the news.

"Did she say anything else?" Alivia asked. I hesitated. "What is it?"

"At first she wouldn't say anything, but I asked her again when Calla and Chase were filling the Zeta fuel tanks." I bit my lip. "And she finally said something, but it was super weird and vague and kind of ominous."

"Oh, my favorite type of news." Alivia replied sarcastically. She sighed. "Tell me."

"She said…she said not everything is how it seems. That we can't trust him." I frowned, still confused by Naomi's words. "I asked her to elaborate, but then Chase finished putting the Zeta fuel back in, and then you guys got her with Saturn, and…"

"Can't trust him? Who's him?" Alivia questioned. I shook my head helplessly. "One of the team? Someone else?"

"I don't know." I admitted. "I just don't know."

"Alright." Alivia bit her lip, considering this. "Alright, don't tell anyone about that. We don't want to worry them prematurely, and it'll just make them paranoid. We find out more, at least narrow down who 'he' could be, then we go to them, alright?"

"You're the boss." I agreed, still thinking about Naomi's words.


	5. Museums Suck

** Bree's POV **

"C'mon Noah, you can do it. Just say 'Calla'." Calla encouraged my seven-month-old son, sitting cross-legged on the carpet in front of him. Jaden was beside the two of them, simultaneously trying to convince him that 'Dada' should be his first words. I watched them in amusement, knowing that when Noah felt like talking, he would say something, and no amount of effort from his father or aunt could convince him otherwise.

"Thanks for the help with dishes." I mentioned to Chase as I handed another one to him to dry. He smiled, taking it from me.

"Well, you made dinner." He reasoned. He nodded at Noah. "Any guesses what his first word is going to be?"

"Not sure, but if he's anywhere close to being as weird as the rest of his family, it won't be Mommy or Daddy, I can't tell you that." I replied, laughing a little. He chuckled, nodding in agreement.

"So, Bree, you nervous about this weekend?" Calla asked, leaning back on one hand to look up at me. I shrugged.

"I guess?" I probably should have been – this was the first time I'd been allowed to manage one of the exhibits at the museum, and with all the preparation I had to do in time for the art exhibit's opening on Saturday, it should have been nerve-wracking. It would have been to anyone else, I supposed, but after fighting both bionic and super-powered criminals for years now, I guess there wasn't much that could faze me. "You guys coming?"

"Arts not really my thing." Chase told me. "But I'm sure it'll be great, Bree. I know how much hard work you put into this."

"I'll be there. Skylar and Alivia are coming too – we might even drag Rani with us." Calla mentioned. "We invited Kaz and the twins, but they said they had plans."

"Speaking of Kaz," I turned around to look at the others, "has anybody seen Jess lately? Like, are they still together?"

"God knows." Jaden shrugged.

"They got into a fight a couple of weeks ago, she's hasn't been around the penthouse since." Chase mentioned.

"They did go out a couple of nights ago though, so I think they're still together." Calla reasoned, smiling widely as Noah reached for her. She pulled him into her lap, laughing a little as he immediately grabbed at her face. "I just think she's avoiding the penthouse because of you know who."

"There's going to be drama there, I can tell." Chase sighed.

"I can't wait till your baby shower, Calla, when they're both in the same room as each other." I commented. She rolled her eyes.

"Tell me about it." She agreed.

"Hey, Chase, do you have plans on Saturday?" Jaden asked suddenly, glancing up from his phone.

"No, why? Are you skipping Bree's exhibit too?" My brother asked, surprised.

"I'm giving him a private tour the night before." I replied, smirking a little. Jaden chuckled at that.

"Uh, yeah, and I had this idea. You heard about the annual Centium City Robot Throw Down?" He asked. Chase frowned and shook his head. "It's one of those fighting robot competitions."

"Oh, cool. They used to have some in Mission Creek – Leo and Mr. Davenport would enter every year." He mentioned. "I didn't know Centium City had one."

"Well, to be fair, we're usually pretty busy fighting Roddisieus or Mr. Terror or some other crazy villain person this time of year." Jaden reasoned. "So, you interested? I mean, I've always loved the fights, so I know what to expect, and with your brains, we can build a kicka…kick-butt," he stopped himself, noticing how Noah was staring at him with huge eyes, "robot."

"Yeah, I'm in. We can start working on it tonight." Chase grinned. He put down the dish he was drying. "I think I've got some material back in Mission Command; we can head over there now."

"Sweet." Jaden jumped to his feet, reaching for his jacket. The two of them kissed Calla and I goodbye respectively, then headed out the door, already talking names for the robot. I chuckled, watching them go.

"Boys and their toys, am I right?" I teased. Calla laughed at that, the two of smiling widely when Noah laughed as well.

** Xxx **

"Wow, look at this turn out." I turned around, smiling when I saw Skylar, Rani, Alivia, and Calla walking towards me, all of them holding brochures for the art exhibit.

"I know, right? Thanks for coming." I told them.

"Of course, this is incredible. I'm proud of you." Skylar replied, pulling me into a hug.

"I really just came because Alivia threatened to put me on kitchen duty if I didn't. Museums sucks." Rani commented before stepping away to examine one of the abstract paintings on display.

"Well, uh…at least she's honest." I glanced at Alivia. She shrugged. "Is she alright? She's been off since Naomi and Ben left."

"She's just worried about the others." The redhead assured me. "The sooner we find them, the better."

"Of course. We haven't stopped looking." Calla promised her. "But we can't do anything until we get a lead on who might have taken them. How's Rani doing with that spellbook?"

"Well, she was hoping that the more ancient spells would have better luck on tracking them down, but so far, we have nothing. I think she mentioned that she was going to try to find a spell that could locate the 'dead zones' that her magic can't find."

"That'll narrow down the list; we'll actually have an idea of where they could be." Skylar realized. Alivia nodded.

"Exactly. Normally, I would have let her keep working on this, but…" She glanced at her teammate. "She's been at this for days, and I'm worried she's going to overdo it trying to find them. She's going to burn herself out if we can't find them soon."

"We'll keep an eye on her." I assured her. Suddenly, Calla frowned.

"…the hell is she doing here?" She muttered, suddenly walking away from us. Following her gaze, I saw that she was looking at a tall girl, with a sable brown pixie cut and a dark green leather jacket. "Faith!" Calla called, catching the girl's attention. The short-haired girl beamed upon seeing our resident genius.

"Calla!" She immediately pulled Calla into a hug. She pulled away quickly, stilling beaming. "Oh my God, what are you doing here?"

"It's Bree's exhibit, and I live in Centium City." She explained as Alivia, Skylar, and I walked over.

"So do I." Faith smirked.

"Since when?" Calla demanded, confused.

"A couple of hours ago." Faith chuckled lightly. "I got transferred for work, and I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Oh, trust me, it is." Calla reassured her. She turned to us. "Bree, Skylar, you guys have already met. Alivia, this is my cousin, Faith. Faith, this is our friend, Alivia, and that," she swiveled and gestured at our umbrakinetic friend, "is Rani."

"Hi." Faith grinned at them in her signature, over-enthusiastic grin. "So, Bree, this is your exhibit? I didn't know you were working at a museum."

"Yeah, I started last year. It's been fun." We all started chatting for a while after that. I kept having to leave the conversation abruptly – I needed to make sure things were running smoothly, after all – but I heard most of the conversation. Faith's job, working in a prestigious research lab, had just transferred her to the city, and she was moving into an apartment downtown with her boyfriend. After about an hour, Faith's phone went off.

"Oh, crap." She sighed, reading the message before looking at us apologetically. "Miles' flight arrived early. I have to go pick him up. Maybe we can grab dinner, the lot of us, sometime?"

"Even better, we're holding a baby shower for Miss Big Belly over here," I teased Calla, hand on her shoulder, "next week. You have to come."

"Hell yeah! I'm going to pick out the great gift for my baby second cousin." Faith smiled. "I'll text you, alright?"

"Bye!" We waved as she left. "Well, that's awesome. I missed Faith; we didn't hang out that much when we got older, but we used to be close when we were little kids." Calla smiled, glancing at her watch before scowling. "Damn, we have to go too."

"What, why?" I asked, disappointed.

"We promised the guys that we would come check out the robot fight, and it's going to start any minute." Skylar explained.

"We'll stick around." Alivia offered, glancing at Rani. Obviously, she was hoping that the art gallery would be much more relaxing for the witch than a robot fight.

"Okay. I'll walk you guys out." I offered. I started walking them towards the front entrance of the museum, but just as we entered the lobby, eight men all in black pushed their way through the doors, rifles in their hands.

"Everyone, on the ground, now!" One of them shouted, aiming his weapon at a nearby civilian. Skylar and I immediately tensed, ready for a fight, but Calla's hands on our wrists stopped us.

"Stop, stop!" She hissed. "Eight of them, three of us – one of whom is pregnant and not armed – and plenty of civilians, in a small room. That doesn't end well, no matter how things go."

"What do you suggest then?" Skylar hissed.

"Wait, play hostage, until we get a real chance to take them out." Calla whispered, even as we slowly dropped to our knees along with the other civilians in the room. "They're probably here to steal some of the arts and relics; they'll be distract, split up, and not expecting any of the hostages to fight back. The odds will be better, and there won't be as much chance of civilian casualty."

"What about Rani and Alivia?" I reminded them, watching as some of the men split down different hallways to check for more civilians in the building.

"Hopefully, they'll have the same idea. They're smart, they know that a fight like this is not one they'll win. At least, not without revealing their powers to the world, or possibly getting civilians hurt."

"I hope you're-" Skylar broke off when the sound of gunshots, coming from the same part of the museum we had just been in. Skylar turned to us, pale faced. "You were saying?"

** Chase's POV **

"This is awesome." I grinned, looking around at all the competing robot teams. There were twenty-four teams in total, all ready to compete. A couple of them were already in the fighting dome – The Macho Destroyer VS The Terror Razer – and though we hadn't seem them yet, Jaden and were heading towards the dome to see the last few minutes of their fight. We wanted to see what we were up against, to see if our robot, Monster's Nightmare (I'd wanted to name it something more simple, like Daven-Parker or something, but Jaden insisted that it had to be a scary name) had a chance.

"C'mon, Chase." Jaden grinned, excited, as he pushed his way through the crowd to get to the side of the ring. But the moment he got there, he cursed, upset by something I couldn't yet see. "You've got to be kidding me."

"What's wrong?" I demanded, even as I ran up beside him. The robots were still fighting, but it was obvious that one of them was definitely in the lead – with it's razor sharp blade and faster than expected reflexes, the robot was easily avoiding the smaller robot's attempts to body slam it. The robot, Terror's Razor according to the name painted on the back, was slowly but surely chopping its opponent into bits.

That wasn't the problem though. Sure, it had a strong blade, but our robot was too durable for that to be a real concern. No, the real concern was who was controlling the robot.

"Hey guys!" Kaz waved at us from where he, Oliver, and Dani were all huddled around the robot's controller, Oliver controlling it while Dani told him what to do.

"You've got to be kidding me." I muttered.

** Bree's POV **

"Sit." One of the men gestured at where they had gathered about a dozen hostages. Calla, Skylar, and I all slowly sat down, watching them.

"I'm sure they're alright." Calla whispered, though her tone gave away her worry. I glanced at her, not quite sure if I believed it. "Okay, time for a plan. Bree, is there a panic button or a silent alarm around here?"

"Behind the counter." I nodded at the counter at the entrance before glancing at the receptionist, Maddie. Waiting until she noticed my stare, I mouthed the words 'Did you hit the button'? at her, praying she would understand. Though she did understand what I was saying, the sad shake of her head killed our hopes that the police were already on their way.

"Damn it." Skylar muttered.

"It's alright. When they remove a painting, an alarm's going to go off, and without any of us to shut it down, it'll contact the police in under a minute." I whispered, eying the men carefully. "Assuming that they take the ones on display. If they take some from storage instead…" I trailed off, knowing that the weren't any alarms back there, aside from the ones on the door. Usually, there'd be security guards watching them, but I had the feeling that they would be brought out here like the rest of us.

"Well, we can't wait for them either way." Skylar hissed. "We should…"

She trailed off as a few more hostages were brought into the room, including a violently struggling red head. We waited, but there was no sign of Rani. "What happened?" One of the men demanded, approaching one of the ones who had just come in. "We heard gunfire."

"A girl tried to play hero. She didn't give us a choice." The man replied. He gestured at Alivia, who was still being restrained by one of the men. She was bleeding from the corner of her lip, though she paid the injury no mind as she glared hatefully at the man. "Her friend here was a little easier to take down."

"Cuff her to the post." He instructed, gesturing at Alivia. She fought against them, but it was no use, and soon she found herself handcuffed to a handrailing. The man turned back to the one who'd hurt our friend. "Control them. We don't want any more casualties."

The men separated, some guarding us while others made their way over to the back, where some of the art work was stored away from the public. I glanced over at Alivia; now that the men had left her, she looked less angry and more upset, worried. But the expression on her face wasn't what I'd expect to see from someone who'd just lost a member of her team. No, there was more determination, less grief in this gaze.

'Rani?' I mouthed at her, confused. Alivia didn't respond, her eyes locked on one of the guards. At first, I thought perhaps she hadn't seen me, but then her lips quirked upwards into a smirk, just for a brief second, and she nodded slowly before meeting my gaze.

** Chase's POV **

"What are you guys doing here?" Dani questioned as they walked up to us.

"We're competing." Jaden replied, holding up our robot. "How come you guys didn't mention that you were?"

"We didn't realize it was a big deal." Oliver shrugged. "We kinda just saw a commercial for it on TV."

"And we were like, that mindless destruction looks fun, let's do it." Dani beamed, bouncing between her feet. "Besides, I thought we could use a break everything that's been going on."

She and Oliver had seemed pretty bothered by the visit with their mom last week, it did make sense that they were looking for a way to forget about everything for a while. "This isn't going to be a problem, right? Us competing against each other?"

"No way. You're just another team to beat." I replied. Kaz smiled in confusion.

"To beat? What, you think your crappy robot can beat ours?" He laughed at the prospect.

"It most certainly can." I snapped defensively. Dani laughed.

"That's just a fantasy, boys." She teased, smiling. "We can kick your butts in our sleep."

"In your dreams." Jaden retorted. She smirked.

"Yeah, that too." She replied confidently. Jaden opened his mouth to object, then, realizing how easily she tore apart his last retort, he glanced at me for help.

"Guys, it's all for fun. May the best team win." I offered my hand to Oliver. He shook it, smiling.

"You know that's going to be us, right?" He asked.

"We'll see." I replied, smirking. Just then, a voice came on over an intercom.

"Would robots Monster's Nightmare and Black Death head to their sides of the field?" It requested.

"Good luck." Kaz smirked at us as we passed them by.

"We have to kick their butts." Jaden told me as we headed for our area.

"Definitely." I agreed, pulling out my phone. I intended to text Calla, who'd promised to be here when our first battle started, but was disappointed to find that I didn't have any signal. It wasn't much of a surprise, given that this part of town was notorious for having crappy signal, though it was disappointing.

** Rani's POV **

Getting shot sucks. I mean, it could have been worse. When I'd charged at the guy with the gun, I'd failed to realize that there was another just around the corner, and I'd just barely managed to create a shadow between me and the speeding bullet before it hit me. It had blunted the blow, not enough to stop it, but I was sure that if I hadn't been able to raise that shadow in time, I wouldn't still be alive.

Still, it sucked. I was bleeding a fair bit, though not enough for me to prioritize over dealing with the criminals that had taken the museum visitors hostage. Alivia knew I was alive, of that I was sure: though I'd gone limp at first, and things did go white for a very brief second after I'd been shot, I'd managed to give Alivia a sign – a quick, very rude gesture with my finger, directed at one of the gunmen – that I was still kicking. Surely by now, the others had been reunited with her and were coming up with some sort of plan. I just had to figure out how to help.

Rolling my head across the floor to look around the room, I realized that the gunmen had left me alone. They must have thought I was dead. I could still see them, heading down another hallway. Judging by their path, they were heading away from the hostages. So, either I could go join the hostages, and try to take out the guards there with the rest of the others' help, or I could try to find a way to get help without putting myself in more danger. Normally, I wouldn't even hesitate before going after the gunmen, but the agonizing pain in my lower left side was more of enough of a motivation to not do something so reckless.

Okay, new plan, contact Dani and the others. I couldn't call them, even though that would be the easiest way. My phone had been in my hand when the gunmen had come in, and I'd dropped it in the middle of everything. I could see it from here, lying discarded face-up a few feet away, but the screen was cracked, the image of the text I was sending Alan half black.

Uh…what should I do now? Right, there was a security office around here. I remembered seeing it when Bree had brought us on a private tour of the building a few weeks ago. If I could get there, then I should be able to call for help. And there should be security cameras that would allow me to check in on the others.

I sucked in a deep breath, then looked around as best as I could from where I'd fallen, trying to re-orientate myself. Once I was sure of where I'd have to go, I took another deep, steadying breath, and slowly sat up. I gasped in pain, feeling the movement tear at my wound. Pressing my hand against my side, I could already feel the blood flow slowing. The bullet was still inside me, but I wasn't sure if removing it was a good idea. Alivia had gotten Dani to go over emergency first aid with all of us, and though I hadn't paid much attention to her when she talked (to be fair, none of us did, and if we were ever injured, there was Mighty Med 2.0. that we could go to), I did remember her saying that removing a bullet in the field was generally a very stupid idea. So, I put as much pressure on the wound as I could stand, prayed that the bullet wouldn't move around very much, then attempted to raise myself to my feet.

It took more tries than I'd hoped it would, and I had to use the wall as a support more than I would have liked, but eventually I managed it. Now I just had to find that damn security office – easy as pie, right?

** Chase's POV **

As I predicted, our robot was far superior to anything else on the field. I admit, we might have had a bit of an advantage – Davenport Industries had created a lightweight steel that was much lighter, but more durable than anything else on the market and though Calla had released it a few months ago to the public, it wasn't cheap to come by. It wasn't cheating to use it, not at all, but it certainly made it harder for the other robots to destroy ours. Not to mention, Jaden was surprisingly good at this, weaving in and out of the enemy's reach with ease as he dodged and lunged at them. Within minutes, any robot that went against us could no longer battle, either too damaged by the sharp spikes placed at the back of the robot or from being slammed repeatedly into the cage wall.

It wasn't much of a surprise to us when we made it to the final four. Kaz, Dani, and Oliver had made it as well, along with a twenty-year-old with a t-shirt that read 'three-time champion' and a robot simply titled 'DANGER', and a young girl, maybe about fourteen years old, that I vaguely remembered from the Mini Olympic competition I'd helped Bob compete in a couple of years ago. Her robot was the least threatening of them all – painted pink and purple, with eyes and a smile drawn on the front. How she'd made it to the top four was beyond me, but it didn't matter. We were going to beat all of them anyway.

"Alright, can the next challengers, Terror Razor and Princess Bloodshine come to the field?" The announcer requested. Kaz, Dani, Oliver, Jaden, and I all exchanged looks upon hearing the girl's robot's name, slightly disturbed by how dark it was for the kid.

"We got the easy win, suckers." Kaz teased us, following Oliver and Dani to their side of the field.

"Great, we have to deal with the three-time champion." Jaden grumbled, annoyed.

"Hey, if they got him, then we'd either still fight them in the end, or fight him anyway. This way, we can prove how good we are before having to fight them." I reasoned, trying to see the bright side of things.

The fight started out much like the others had, with the girl, Zoe if I remembered her name correctly, trying desperately to avoid the sharp blade they'd attached to their robot. But then something peculiar happened – Zoe's Princess Bloodshine charged at the Terror Razor, heedless of her opponents' weapon.

Kaz and the twins all smiled, clearly thinking that Zoe had just made a childless mistake and brought the blade down on her robot. At the last minute, however, the top panel of her robot popped up, creating a sort of shield for her robot. The sudden appearance of the shield, coupled with its sudden upwards movement, didn't just stop the blade from cutting into the robot. It also knocked the blade off course, the spinning razor moving upwards. Before Kaz, Oliver, or Dani could recover, Zoe pressed a button on her remote control, and a blade of her own slid out of the front of Princess Bloodshine and cut into Terror Razor.

"No way!" I heard Kaz shout in surprise, as Jaden and I cheered for the girl. Her robot made quick work of the other's robot, slicing at its side, and likely where some of its important wires were, while using her shield to protect from their blade. Oliver tried to pull his robot back, but Zoe kept hers advancing, not giving them a chance to escape. After a couple of minutes of cutting, the dread growing on our friends' faces with every passing second, the Terror Razor stopped functioning altogether, Princess Bloodshine evidently cutting through it bad enough to destroy some of the wiring.

"Princess Bloodshine is the winner!" The announcer called, and the crowd burst into applause. Kaz, Dani, and Oliver all shook Zoe's hand before grabbing their mostly destroyed robot and heading over to us.

"What was that about having an easy win?" Jaden teased. Kaz glared at him.

"I'd like to see you do better." He retorted.

"We're going to have to, if we beat DANGER." I reminded them before looking around. "Where are they?"

"Who?" Oliver frowned.

"Calla and Skylar – they were supposed to come check out the fights." Jaden explained. "But they aren't here yet."

"Well, I was going to fly up, see if I can get a good signal to call Rani – she'd love this kind of thing – so I can try them if you want?" Dani offered.

"Thanks." I smiled appreciatively at her and she nodded, heading for the exit. I glanced at the cage, where the people running the competition were cleaning up some of the pieces from Terror Razor that had come off during the fight. "I have to admit, I didn't expect you guys to be beaten so easily by a little girl."

"She was tough, okay? And that shield thing was genius." Oliver snapped, though I could tell he was only mildly offended.

"We can take her." Jaden assured him, smirking.

** Rani's POV **

Turns out, not so easy. It was pure luck that I didn't get caught by anybody on my way there, between my slow pace and barely muted pained gasps every time a step jarred my wound. By time I got to the hallway where the security office was, black spots were swimming through my vision, and my head was starting to feel light and woozy, like that time I tried a spell far beyond my skills that required more power than I had in me. I stopped near the door, one hand on the wall and my head bowed as I tried to steady my breathing and clear my head. Once I was sure I wouldn't pass out the second I stepped through the door, I steeled myself and pushed the door open with my body.

Unfortunately, the office wasn't empty. "Who the hell are you?" One of the robbers jumped to his feet, reaching for his gun. I raised a hand, not having the time or energy to properly deal with the idiot and commanded a shadow to throw him into the wall. The blow knocked him unconscious but left me feeling woozy once again. I slumped against the door for a second before stumbling into the chair in front of the security cameras.

I ran a hand through my hair, trying to compose myself before examining the security feeds. The hostages were all in the front lobby, guarded by about four men, while three of them were pulling sculptures and paintings from a dark storage room. Calla, Bree, Skylar, and Alivia were all in the lobby with the other hostages, the latter handcuffed to a pole. I could see them quietly conversing with each other, likely coming up with a plan, though they were careful to stop if a guard looked like he might catch them.

Alright, they were okay, and they were coming up with a plan. All I could do from here was get them some back up. I looked around the office, hoping that I might find a landline or something. When I couldn't find one, I dropped to my knees next to the unconscious gunman and began to go through his pockets, looking for his cell phone.

** Chase's POV **

"C'mon DANGER!" "You've got this, Monster's Nightmare!" The crowd cheered as Jaden and I took our place at the other end of the cage. Our opponent stood opposite of us, a confident smirk on his face as he readied his robot. From the sidelines, I could see Kaz, Oliver, and even Zoe watching the match with interest.

"And…begin!" The announcer declared, and the robots burst to life.

Like the Terror Razor, DANGER was decked out with extra blades to make it more dangerous than a normal fighting robot, but that didn't faze us. No, our robot was too well protected, and as the old saying goes, a good defense is a good offense. So long as we could outlast DANGER, we could defeat him by slamming him into walls until his circuitry broke. We'd been using that strategy all day, and it had yet to fail us.

As expected, DANGER's blades were like butter knives against our stronger material, barely doing more than leaving a couple of scratches. However, unlike the other robots, this one kept coming, unbothered by the seemingly lack of success he was making. Clearly, he thought that he could eventually overtake our robot if he tried long enough.

"Have Nightmare spin around to his other side." I told Jaden, gesturing at the robots. "He's trying so hard to go forward, we might as well use that to our advantage."

Seeing what I was getting at, Jaden did exactly as I instructed. He suddenly moved our robot out of DANGER's way, and, not expecting the sudden movement, the robot jolted forward. Before our opponent could reverse the robot, Jaden had Monster's Nightmare slam into DANGER from behind, forcing him into the cage wall. The crowd burst into cheers and applause at that, knowing that we had gotten the upper hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Dani had returned in time to see that clever move.

But she didn't stop moving when she reached the others, instead racing around the edge of the cage until she was just a few feet below us. "Forfeit the match!" She called.

"What?" Jaden was so surprised by her request that he looked away from the match.

"Jaden!" I snapped as DANGER took advantage of his distraction, pushing away from us to get some distance between him and the wall.

"Damn it!" He muttered, turning his attention back to the battle.

"Forfeit, we have to go!" Dani shouted above the sound of the crowd. She looked at me, a shocking amount of seriousness and worry in her eyes for her. "Chase, we have to go."

"Jaden." I put my hand on top of the controls, stopping him. He looked between me and Dani, then looked at the announcer.

"Hey, we forfeit! We quit!" He shouted. Almost everyone in the room went quiet at those words, surprised.

"What?" DANGER's controller demanded.

"Yeah, we quit. You win. Zoe, good luck!" Jaden called. Without waiting for anyone else to object, he leapt down from the raised area we stood on, with me following right behind him. He pushed through the crowd after Dani, Kaz and Oliver following in confusion. "Please tell me there was a good reason we did that."

"The museum's being robbed at gunpoint, our entire team is inside, and Rani's been shot." Dani summarized before shooting a look back at Jaden. "That good enough for you?"

** Bree's POV **

"Alright, now we just need one of them to come over here." I hissed to the others once we'd agreed on a plan. We all looked at the guards, contemplating how we might do this, before Calla let out a little laugh.

"Oh, I've got this." She decided. She turned to look at Maddie, then nodded at a water bottle she had in her hands. "Pass it down, would you?"

The water bottle was slowly and secretly passed down towards us, the others taking one look at Calla's swollen belly and deciding that this was not a situation she should be in and to help her in anyway possible. Calla grabbed the bottle, then after making sure none of the guards were watching us at that moment, dumped its contents all over the ground in a single splash, making sure to get her pants wet for authenticity. "Oh my God, my water just broke! I'm having a baby!" She cried loudly, her tone just the right level of dramatic panic to really get the guards' attention. They all turned towards her seconds after she slid the empty bottle behind her and took in the water and her panicked expression. One of the guards started towards her, either out of compassion or suspicion over the situation. It didn't matter his reasoning though, because the moment he was close enough, Skylar raised a hand and blasted him in the chest with one of her energy blasts.

I sped forward at that moment, lunging at one of the guard's guns, while Calla created a proton disk and threw it towards the third guard, the sharp disk slicing the front end of his weapon in half, before swinging around and flying back towards her palm, accidently destroying one of the hanging lights on its way. Alivia, meanwhile, created two duplicates of herself that, even though she was still handcuffed to the handrail, were free to fight. One lunged at the final gunman, diving low at his feet while the other flipped into the air, kicking the gun out of his hands before he could recover from the shock of seeing her powers.

Everything was going according to plan. Until it wasn't.

The third guard recovered far quicker than expected, and despite the fact that he was missing the front part of his gun, he took aim at Calla, and pulled the trigger.

However, instead of hitting Calla, a figure of a young woman, made completely out of opaque shadows, suddenly sprouted from the ground, the bullet imbedding itself in the darkness, but not passing through it. The man stared in shock and confusion, giving Calla the chance to throw another proton disk at him, this time hitting his hands. The sudden blow knocked the weapon out of his hands. Before he could retrieve it, I sped towards it, swiping it up before skidding to a start and aiming the weapon at the two gunmen, the final one currently being detained by Skylar and the two duplicates Alivia had created. "Stand down." I ordered, adjusting my grip on a gun. I'd never been particularly comfortable with these weapons – Mr. Davenport had trained us all with weapons so that in the event that our bionics couldn't be used or weren't working, we could defend ourselves with something from his vault of weapons, but while Chase had found the weapons easy to use, neither Adam nor I ever enjoyed even holding them. But they didn't know that, and for all they knew, I was willing to kill if I had to.

"Rani?" Calla questioned, looking at the shadowy figure, then around the room as if the witch might pop out at any moment. When she couldn't find her, she looked back at the shadowy figure. The figure silently pointed at a security camera in the top corner of the room.

"She's in the security room?" I confirmed. The shadowy figure gave me a thumbs up before disappearing.

"Wait, where are the other four?" Skylar demanded, realizing that several were missing from view. Suddenly, a throat cleared.

"Over here, girlie." We turned to see three of the other gunmen standing in one of the halls, weapons aimed at us. "Now, down on your knees."

"Not happening." I tensed, ready to speed forward and steal their weapons, when suddenly, a blast of fire and lightning, twisted around each other in a dangerous fashion, shot from behind me and slammed into the chest of one of the gunmen. Simultaneously, a blast of ice and plasma hit another. The gunmen who'd called Skylar 'girlie' suddenly lifted off his feet and hovered in the air for a minute before being thrown into the wall behind him, the blow knocking him unconscious instantly.

"We had that handled." Calla said, turning around with her hands on her hips as she faced her husband, my husband, Kaz, and the twins.

"Oh, I don't doubt that." Chase assured her, looking around the room. "Still, a little help never hurt."

"I suppose." Calla smiled as he leaned in to kiss her, his hands resting on her arms.

"Are you guys alright?" Jaden demanded.

"We are, Rani's not." Alivia called from beside the handrail. Her duplicates had disappeared, but she was still cuffed to the bar. "A little help here?"

"Right." Oliver nodded, rushing over to help her. I watched as he put his fingers on the cuffs, freezing them slowly, likely intending to freeze them enough that they became brittle and breakable.

"Rani was shot, not sure how bad. We think she's in the security room." I explained to the others.

"We know, she called me. She said the wound wasn't great, but not fatal either." Dani replied.

"Was that all of them?" Kaz questioned, looking at the downed gunmen. Most of them were either unconscious or restrained by cuffs (we always carried power-reducing cuffs on us, just in case of emergencies).

"No, there's one more. I'm not sure where he went." Skylar replied.

"Security room." We all spun around to see Rani leaning against the wall, hands tightly pressed against a blood-soaked part of her shirt. She gave us a pained smile. "Kicked his ass before calling you guys."

With those words, she slid down the wall, letting out a soft cry when she hit the ground. We all rushed over, Oliver and Alivia dropping to their knees beside her. "Let me see." Oliver told her, gently moving her hands to get a good look at the injury. Rani let out a sigh and looked up at Alivia, Skylar, Calla, and I.

"Told you museums suck." She teased breathlessly.

"You're hilarious." Alivia rolled her eyes before looking at Oliver. "Should we be worried?"

"It's not that deep, and it doesn't look like the bullet was jostled a lot." He glanced at Rani's face. "You got lucky."

"Yeah, that sounds like me." She agreed, blowing out a long breath before wincing. "Will it scar?"

"Probably." Oliver replied apologetically.

"Badass." She murmured, actually sounding like she liked the idea. Dani chuckled at that, and even Alivia had to bite back a smile.

"Let's get you to Mighty Med 2.0." The Irish hero decided, bending down and moving Rani's arm around her shoulder. Oliver took the other arm and the two of them lifted Rani to her feet. "We'll see you guys at home after we get this idiot stitched up."

"Idiot? I saved your asses by calling them." Rani protested, closing her eyes briefly before forcing them back open.

"C'mon," Oliver seemed vaguely amused by her as he and Skylar helped her outside. As they left, the police started filing in, the others having evidently called them on their way here. I looked around at the hostages and the downed gunmen and sighed.

"Figures. The first time I'm put in charge of an exhibit, and this happens." I complained. Jaden chuckled, putting his arm around me and kissing my forehead.

"Think of it this way: if you can handle this, you can handle any other crazy thing that happens on the job." He told me. I gave him a look. "C'mon, we should probably pick Noah up from the sitter. CeeCee and I have a bet about what his first word is going to be, and I'm going to make sure it's Dada."

** Chase's POV **

"Are you sure you're okay? I mean that couldn't have been good for you or the baby-" Calla turned around on the elevator, giving me a look. "I'm worrying too much, aren't I?"

"Yes, but it's sweet and well-intended, so I forgive you." She promised me, kissing me on the lips. "But we are both fine."

"Alright." I kissed her back.

"Get a room." Kaz complained, reminding us that we weren't alone on the elevator.

"Or, you know, we could just get off the elevator and leave them and their disgusting adorableness here." Dani chuckled, stepping out of the elevator as the doors opened on our floor. I rolled my eyes, took Calla's hand, and followed Kaz, Dani, Skylar, and Calla towards our apartment.

"Uh…who left the door open?" Skylar frowned, noticing that the door was ajar.

"It was closed. We were the last to leave." I frowned, confused. The rest of us exchanged looks. "Calla, stay here."

"Chase-" she began to protest, but I didn't stick around to listen, instead making my way into the penthouse. Someone had definitely broken in while we were gone; I could tell by the way the furniture was flipped and all the drawers in the kitchen were open.

"I'll check upstairs, Kaz, you take Mission Command." Skylar instructed, already heading up the stairs. Kaz quickly used the hyperlift to go down to Mission Command. Despite my instructions to stay outside, Calla slipped into the penthouse behind us, a proton disk gripped tightly in her hand. I stepped close to her, unsure if the penthouse was truly empty.

"MISS?" My wife called softly. When there was no answer, she stepped forward to grab her IPad, which was lying partially under the overturned chair. She frowned when she saw that it was cracked, but thankfully, it was still functioning. "Huh."

"What?" Dani questioned as she stepped through the mess towards the kitchen area.

"She's been deactivated." Calla replied. "Someone hacked into our system."

"I didn't know that was possible." I frowned. She bit her lip.

"Neither did I." She admitted. She looked up suddenly, confused. "The TV's still here."

"So?" I asked, looking at her. "It's not exactly light; it would be hard to get out of here without being caught."

"Then why is my IPad still here? That's easy to steal and it's portable." Calla pointed out. Suddenly, Skylar came down the stairs.

"All the rooms upstairs have been tossed too, but nothing's been stolen. Not even Kaz and Oliver's PS4 or Wii." She told us.

"Someone was definitely here, but nothing's been taken as far as I can tell." Kaz's voice came on over the intercom in the penthouse. "But Calla, you might want to do an inventory check just in case."

"Wait, if nothing was stolen, who broke into our apartment? And why?" I questioned.

"I think I know." Dani spoke up suddenly. We all turned to see her standing by the desk in the corner, holding up a couple of torn up scraps of paper. "Does anyone see Rani's the grimoire? Or any of her notes or her other spell book?"

We all looked around, but there was no sign of the books. "Are you telling me that the grimoire, the only idea we had to find our friends, is missing?" Skylar said slowly, eyes wide.

"Not missing, stolen." I corrected, glancing at her. "Whoever broke in here knew exactly what they were looking for."


	6. Babies and Fantasy Leagues

** Calla's POV **

I yawned to myself as I walked down the stairs to the main floor. "Morning MISS." I greeted tiredly.

" _Good morning, Miss Calla."_  She responded instantly. I let out a little sigh of relief; though I was confident in the system upgrade I'd given her after the latest break in, there was a tiny part of me that had been paranoid that it would happen again.

Everyone had been on edge since the break in, though I could hardly blame them. Whoever had broken in was both highly intelligent (enough that they could seamlessly hack into MISS and bypass all the fail-safes I'd built into her system) and had known exactly what they'd been looking for. The spellbooks they'd taken had been key to finding our missing friends, and their theft had led the others to believe that whoever had taken them was also responsible for their kidnapping.

I sighed. "MISS, please open the hyperlift."

" _Of course, Miss Calla."_  MISS replied. A moment later, the fireplace split in two and I stepped into the hyperlift. Seconds later, I landed on the mission command floor, my stomach turning from the sudden drop.

"God," I muttered, one hand on the wall, the other over my mouth as I tried to kill the nausea. The hyperlift had never bothered me before I'd gotten pregnant, but over the past few months, the sudden drop had made my morning sickness a hundred times worse. Chase had helped me reduce its speed significantly for the sake of protecting the baby, but it was still wreaking havoc on my stomach.

Once the nausea had passed, I headed straight for my computer desk, intending to get some work done on a new weapon I'd been preparing to use against whoever it was who was threatening us and our friends. "Wow, you got big while I was gone."

I jumped at the sudden greeting, not expecting anyone else to be down there. I swiped my plasma gun off the counter, spun around, and aimed it at the source of the voice. I stopped just short of pulling the trigger, staring at the wide eyes of a familiar fifteen-year-old boy. "AJ?" I demanded breathlessly, staring at the curly haired boy.

"Hi." He smirked at my stunned expression. I stared at him for a long moment before dropping my arm.

"AJ? What the hell are you…Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I demanded, placing the weapon down on the cyberdesk before pressing my hand against my chest, feeling my heartbeat racing. "Seriously, kid?"

"Sorry, I thought I'd surprise you guys." He apologized sheepishly.

"Not a great idea, especially not days after our penthouse was broken into. Speaking of which, how'd you even get in here?" I demanded. He opened his mouth to reply, but I raised a hand to stop him. "Actually, it's too early in the morning to hear you tell me about how a fifteen-year-old was able to breakthrough my state of the art security system. Better question: what are you doing here?"

"I'm back in town, to stay." He grinned. My eyes widened, surprised by the news. "Mom got this job back in Philadelphia, and they were opening a branch here in the city, so she took the transfer so I could go back to my old school."

"AJ, that's great." I smiled at him, pleased to hear it. Despite his habit of breaking into Mission Command, I'd genuinely missed having the kid around. It was good to get a second perspective on things, and AJ had always had a unique way of thinking of things.

"So…" AJ gave me a look and I smiled, sensing that he hadn't just come here to tell us that he was back in town. "Do you remember how you mentioned you would let me be your assistant when I was old enough?"

"Which you aren't." I pointed out.

"But you're going to give me the job anyway because you like me." He replied. I couldn't help but chuckle at his confidence.

"Okay, sure. You've more than proven yourself in the past. And besides, you're so much better than Gary; I swear, he can barely tell the difference between a proton and an electron."

"But even Kaz knows the difference." AJ pointed out.

"Precisely." I agreed. "So, the job's yours."

"Awesome." AJ grinned. "When do I start?"

"Right now. If you can break in here, so can our enemies. So you are now in charge of penthouse security." He smiled, liking the idea. "I'll come down and help you in a minute, but first, I'm going to go tell the others that you're here, so they don't have the reaction that I did. Seriously, you are lucky it was me and not Rani who found you down here."

"Rani? She works for the New League of Heroes, right?" AJ frowned. "What's she doing here?"

"It's a bit of a long story, pal, and I'll have to catch you up, but let's just say, if you'd surprised her like you surprised me, she probably would have turned you into a frog or something."

AJ frowned at that, then grinned. "Cool."

** Chase's POV **

"Hey Dani." AJ grinned as he followed me into Mighty Med 2.0. The electrokinetic was just walking out of the bathroom when we ran into her. She looked up at the sound of her name, then smiled in confusion at AJ and me.

"AJ? You're back in town?" She asked, glancing at me, a questioning look on her face. "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday, but I only broke into Mission Command to say hi today." He replied. She chuckled at that.

"Breaking into Mission Command again? I take it you and Calla loved that." She teased me. I rolled my eyes. "So, what are you guys doing here?"

"Horace called Calla, told her that one of the automatic dispensers was shooting out sparks anytime someone tried to grab something to eat from it." I held up the small toolkit I'd grabbed from the penthouse. "I thought I'd fix it up for her. Besides, she's busy with the baby shower."

"Oh, right. That's today? Crap, I totally forgot." She muttered, pushing herself off the counter.

"Relax, it's tomorrow. You have plenty of time." I assured her. She sighed in relief.

"Thank God, because I totally forgot to get her a gift." She glanced towards the hospital's giftshop, considered it for a moment, then smiled. "I'll catch up with you guys later, alright?"

"C'mon, you can tell me all about Philadelphia while I fix the dispenser." I told AJ as I led him towards the cafeteria. The main part, which was manned by actual chefs, was only open until 8 at night, but since there was a number of staff that worked the overnight, Calla had installed a number of food dispensers near the front where the staff could get food that wasn't the usual junk found in vending machines. They weren't elaborate meals, just some fruit and a different flavors of ramen noodles, but it was better and more filling than a candy bar.

To our surprise, the cafeteria was full, but not of people eating. Instead, a large group of the staff, including Kaz, Horace, and Oliver, were all sitting on the cafeteria benches and tables in front of the viewing screen Kaz had insisted Calla install. On the screen was footage from SNN, showing two superheroes going after a supervillain. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the two heroes were Frostbite, a member of Alivia's team, and Captain Atomic, one of the heroes that had survived Roddiseus' attack a few years ago, and that they were fighting some woman in a crimson red uniform.

"Whoa, is she breathing fire?" AJ demanded, running forward to get a better view of the fight. Kaz and Oliver both looked confused at AJ's sudden appearance, but didn't comment on it, instead sliding over so he could squeeze in between them and one of the nurses.

"That's the Incinerator." Oliver supplied, eyes locked on Frostbite as she dived at the Incinerator, using her hands to shoot a wave of ice at the criminal. The Incinerator opened her mouth and blew a breath of fire at Frostbite though, stopping the attack in its tracks. Meanwhile, Captain Atomic took advantage of the Incinerator's distraction and used his radioactive yo-yo (because a yo-yo is definitely a dangerous weapon) to tie her legs together.

"Yes!" Horace and a couple of the doctors cheered, while a few others, Oliver among them, groaned in complaint.

"What's wrong?" I asked Oliver, confused. He opened his mouth to answer, but stopped when the Incinerator burned through the rope of Captain Atomic's yoyo and turned her attack on him. But while Captain Atomic was busy trying to avoid her fiery breath, Frostbite had chosen to full-on tackle the Incinerator to the ground. Having expected the cryokinetic to blast her instead of physically attacking her, the sudden blow caught the Incinerator by surprise and Frostbite succeeded in forcing her to the ground. Before the Incinerator could attack back, Frostbite had succeeded in locking a pair of power nullifying cuffs onto her hands.

"Take that!" Oliver cheered, much to Horace's disappointed.

"Who won?" Dani called, coming into the cafeteria behind us, carrying a bag from the giftshop.

"Mels." Kaz told her. She grinned.

"Sweet! Ten points to Oliver for the win, three to Horace for the assist!" She called to one of the chefs behind the cafeteria's counter. He moved to the side, where a whiteboard full of team names, superhero codenames, and point totals were. He added the points below teams Short-Storm and BridgeMaster.

"I'm a little confused." AJ stated, speaking for both of us.

"Oh, right. Um, you ever hear of those fantasy leagues for football?" Dani asked. He nodded. "Well, since these two suck at those," she jerked her thumb at Kaz and her brother, "we created one for superheroes. So, every time one of the heroes on our team stops a villain, or helps stop a villain, or saves a life, we get points. And at the end of the year, if your team has the most points, you get to punish the losing team in any non-physically painful way you'd like."

"Ooh, that sounds fun." AJ grinned.

"Yeah. Skylar and I are currently in the lead," Oliver grinned, "and Horace's team is second place. Kaz and Dee are in last place."

"I thought you said you were good at this." I commented, glancing at the two.

"We are. But we're only allowed four heroes a team, and our team was made up of the two of us, along with Spotlight and Scarlet Ace, so…" Kaz trailed off, not needing to explain why that would put them at a disadvantage.

"How come you're only allowed four heroes a team?" AJ frowned. As he spoke, most of the nurses and the doctors began to disperse, no longer interested in the screen now that it had changed from a live feed of the fight to a report on the drop in the sales of capes over the past few years.

"Well, there's only about 30 heroes left, so we can't really pick any more." Dani explained gently.

"Why not include the bionic heroes?" I asked after studying the list of heroes. There wasn't a single bionic hero, not even Bree or myself on the list, but they'd included brand new heroes with no experience like Tempest and Temperment.

"Well…" The three of them exchanged looks before Kaz continued to answer. "Look, don't take this personally man, but bionic heroes just can't compete with superheroes on this level."

"Excuse me?" I demanded, offended.

"Hey, bionic heroes are great. When it comes to enemies with advanced tech, or armies of androids or stuff like that, you guys have got it in the bag, no doubt. But fighting individuals with enhanced abilities that comes from mutations or alien DNA or non-scientific methods that we barely understand, that's our thing. We can just do things that you guys can't." Dani explained. When she saw my face. "Oh, don't take it so personally, Chase. Bionic people are good at things too, just…we're better at some things."

"Um, last I checked, we decided that superheroes and bionic heroes were of equal strength." I reminded them, remembering the little competition we had last year to try and answer that question.

"Strength, yes. Talent though? Experience fighting people like us? Sorry Chase, but we've got you beat." Oliver explained.

"I bet you forty bucks that bionic heroes can beat your team any day." I retorted.

"Chase is right; the bionic heroes are so much better at saving the day than superheroes." AJ added.

"You really wanna put money on that?" Dani challenged. I raised my chin, daring her to bet against me. "Okay, this sounds interesting."

"How about this?" I suggested. "I'll create a team of bionic heroes, and we'll use MISS to keep tabs on them to collect points. Since your guys team is pretty much out of the running at this point, it'll be between my team and Oliver and Skylar's. The team who collects the most points in a week wins."

"And what does the winner get?" Kaz inquired, interested.

"If we win, you have to admit that superheroes are better than bionic heroes. And…" Oliver spared a glance towards Dani and Kaz. "And we each get a free upgrade to Mighty Med 2.0., whatever we want. Even if that includes a new invisible ambulance."

"What happened to the first one?" I asked, confused.

"We're not really sure." Dani admitted. "No one knows where it is."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Alright, fine. But if AJ and I win, you have to admit that bionic heroes are better than superheroes, and bionic heroes are included in the next draft for the fantasy league."

"Deal." Oliver held out his hand to shake on it.

** Calla's POV **

"You're here!" I smiled, hugging Faith as she walked through the door. She grinned, hugging me back.

"Well, I said I would be." She teased, pulling away.

"Sorry, it's just I'm not used to seeing you around here. I mean, aside from the occasional family gathering, we haven't really seen each other since the 11th grade." I explained, leading her into the penthouse. Skylar, Alivia, Bree, and Dani were already gathered in the living room, snacking on cookies.

"Hey guys." Faith smiled, sitting down next to Bree. "Hey, where's your other friend, Rani?"

"Oh, she's helping my brother with some things." Dani replied dismissively. In truth, she was at Mighty Med 2.0., getting stitches removed. Between her magic and the tech at Mighty Med 2.0., her bullet wound was healing nicely, enough that Horace felt comfortable removing the stitches after only a week, but she still wasn't happy about how long it was taking. Normally, she would have just used a spell from her spellbooks to heal it completely, but with her spellbooks having been stolen, she was limited to spells she'd already memorized, and without the need to use healing spells all that often, they weren't locked down in her memory.

"Oh, cool. Hey, I heard a rumor last week, something about the museum being robbed?" She turned to Bree. "Is it true?"

"Yeah, actually we were still there when they started taking hostages. You just missed it by maybe five minutes." Bree told her. Faith's eyes widened.

"Oh my God," She gasped. "I'm so glad you guys are okay."

"Yeah. We got lucky." Skylar spared Bree, Alivia, and I smiles.

"Enough of that kind of talk." I declared, not wanting to revisit the past. "So, how are you liking Centium City?"

"It's nice, actually. I've always preferred cities to the countryside anyway, though Mom insisted that a small town was better for us to grow up in." Faith replied. "And I'm loving my new apartment. You know, its my and Miles' first place together?"

"Aw, that's sweet. He's your boyfriend, right? Miles DeCook?" Dani asked. "Doesn't he work at UPSEI?"

"Not anymore. He transferred. Now he's in charge of security at the lab I work at." Faith replied, shrugging. "I know they never to work with your significant other, but I really don't see the big deal. We work well together."

"That's nice. How'd you guys meet?" Skylar asked. "You're in totally different lines of work."

"Well…did you hear about that terrorism attack at a hospital a few years ago in Philadelphia? Well, I was one of the volunteers that were helping with the cleanup, and Miles, he was actually there when it happened, cause his sister was supposed to be getting a surgery done."

"Damn, he's lucky he survived." I was surprised that he'd never mentioned being that to any of us, not even the people in the New League of Heroes. After all, that terrorism attack that Faith had told us about, well that was most likely Roddiseus' attack against Mighty Med.

"Yeah. Well, anyway, he came by the wreckage to see how bad it was – I guess it was the agent part of him that wanted to know – and he saw me helping out, and offered to buy me a coffee as a thank you, and we started chatting. And things took off from there."

"Cool. He's a nice guy." Dani gave her a smile before turning to Calla. "Alright, should we start with gifts?"

"You sound excited about yours." Alivia observed, amused.

"Well, I kinda already showed Chase, since it's for his kid too, and he said you'd love it." She declared, pushing the gift bag into my hands before I could even reply. I laughed before removing the tissue paper hiding the gift from view.

** Chase's POV **

" _I don't get it."_  I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose as I held my phone up to my ear.  _"You don't want us to go on missions?"_

"No, no." I reassured Logan with a sigh. "Go on missions. If people that need saving, save them. That's our job. What I mean is, if you CAN substitute for missions, send Adam, Leo, Rio, or Katherine instead."

" _And this is all for a competition?"_  He asked, still sounding uncertain.

"Yes." I insisted. I heard him sigh on his end of the line.

" _You guys are weird."_  I heard him mutter. _"But okay."_

"Thanks man." I smiled, about to hang up when Logan stopped.

" _Wait, Chase…what does this have to do with finding Taylor and Kieran? Because, well, we're all really worried about them."_  He told me, his tone soft. I sighed.

"We're looking into it, I promise. Right now, Calla's running every scan she can on MISS' system to try and figure out what IP was used to hack into her. Whoever hacked into her was at least involved with Kieran and Taylor's disappearance, if not responsible for it, so once we find who hacked in, we'll be able to find them. Alright?"

" _Alright."_  Logan sighed.

"Hey, we'll have them home safe and sound real soon, I promise." I assured him before hanging up. I looked at AJ. "Okay, so I just guaranteed that Rio, Katherine, and my brothers are going to go on the most missions, so we'll have as many opportunities to earn points as possible. What's the total at right now?"

"Twenty-three points for Team Superhero and twelve points for Team Bionic." Oliver announced before AJ could reply, walking into the hospital lobby with Kaz and even Rani on his heels. Dani wasn't with them, presumably already at Calla's baby shower. "We have almost twice as many points as you guys."

"We're catching up." I retorted. "Did you guys just come in here to brag, or…?"

"Well, actually, Jess called, said she wanted to grab coffee, so I'm out of here." Kaz replied, heading for the exit. He paused at the doors and grinned at Oliver. "Kick their butts, would ya?"

"Definitely." His best friend agreed. I rolled my eyes, watching as Kaz headed out for his date.

"We're going to win, just you wait and see." AJ told them confidently.

"Sorry, who's the kid?" Rani questioned, slowly lowering herself onto the couch.

"Uh, this is AJ, he used to work with us before he left town for a while. AJ, this is Rani. She and Alivia are staying with us while we track down our missing friends."

"Oh, are you the one that Calla says can turn me into a frog?" AJ asked. Rani raised an eyebrow, then pointed her index finger at him.

"Hocus pocus." She declared. He flinched, genuinely expecting something to happen. Rani laughed a little at that, only to stop when the movement pulled at her wound. She bent over a little, sucking a breath in through her teeth.

"What did I just tell you about taking it easy?" Oliver scolded gently. She gave him a look.

"I'm sitting down, aren't I?" She retorted. She looked at me. "I want my spellbooks back though. The sooner we have them, the sooner this heals and the sooner we can find Spotlight and the others."

"As soon as we get a lead on who broke into our penthouse, we'll have a lead on him. MISS is looking into it. For now, all we can do is wait." I told them. Suddenly, one of the candy girls, Jazz, poked her head into the room.

"Hey, thought I should tell you: Crossbow just took down a couple of idiots who tried to rob a convenience store. Twenty points for you guys, Oliver."

"Thank you, Jazz." Oliver smirked cockily. I groaned; this was not going to be easy.

** Calla's POV **

"Oh my God, I love this." I held up the stuffed Chewbacca toy Faith had bought for the baby. Between that, the 'Superhero in Training' onesie from Dani, the 'Baby Genius' onesie from Bree, the voucher pack for 20 free babysitting nights from Skylar, and the hundred-dollar gift certificate for Babies 'R Us from Rani and Alivia, I'd gotten a lot of amazing things. "We're totally going to make a nerd out of her before she even knows what that word means, though."

"Nerds rule the world, cuz." Faith replied, leaning back with a smirk. "Besides, everyone loves Star Wars, not just nerds."

"I don't love Star Wars." Bree pointed out. The look Faith gave her was almost comical – full of distrust and contempt for that very statement. Dani and I laughed at the reaction.

"So, have you picked a name yet?" Alivia asked, curious.

"We've narrowed it down to my, Jaden, and Skylar's suggestions: Quinn, Sonia, and Emily."

"Aw, and Kaz was so hoping for it to be Hot Dog." Dani smiled. "And to be honest, the name was growing on me."

"Well, maybe you guys can name your kid Hot Dog if you ever have one." Faith mentioned. Dani paused, biting her lip. "Oh, wait, no. You guys aren't together anymore, are you?" My cousin realized, horrified with what she'd just said. "I am so sorry, I should have known better."

"It's fine." Dani gave her a fake smile.

"Hot Dog was never really an option though, right?" Bree asked, looking at me. I shook my head.

"No. Chase and I took one look at the list and immediately removed Kaz Jr. and Hot Dog from the list." I assured them. They all chuckled at the other name suggestion, amused.

"Actually, speaking of Kaz, where are the boys?" Faith inquired, curious.

"Well, Jaden's back in Mission Creek, helping his Mom move. Noah's with them; his grandmother really wanted to see him. And I think Kaz, Oliver, and Chase are all doing some fantasy league thing." Bree replied.

"I never pictured Chase as a football guy." Faith frowned.

"I think it's baseball, actually." Dani lied easily, shrugging. "It's always been Kaz's favorite sport, and really the only sport he and Ollie were ever interested in, so I assume it's gotta be that."

"Oh. Wish them luck for me." Faith smiled.

"Will do." Skylar replied.

** Kaz's POV **

"You're late." Jessica pointed out the second I entered the coffee shop. I sighed, knowing fully well that I was supposed to meet here twenty minutes ago.

"Yeah, sorry. I totally spaced, Jess. I'm so sorry." I apologized, sitting down. "Did you already order? I can pay."

"No, Kaz. I'm fine." She told me, her clipped tone telling me that she was still upset with me.

"I'm sorry." I apologized again, hoping to smooth things over. She tapped the table impatiently, pursing her lips. "I'm getting the feeling that this is about more than me being late?"

She was silent for a moment, thinking, before she finally replied. "Did you have fun at the movies yesterday?"

"Oh, yeah." I grinned. "Infinity War was awesome."

She smiled thinly at that. "Cool."

"Wait," I frowned, confused. "How did you know I was at the movies yesterday?"

"Oh, I was across the street, grabbing a bite to eat, when I saw you walk out. I was going to go say hi, but then I saw Dani." She gave me a fake smile and it all clued in.

"Jessica, I told you that Oliver, Dani, and I always go see new superhero movies together when they're out." I reminded her. She furrowed her brow.

"I didn't see Oliver." She commented, confused.

"Probably because he went back in to grab one of those movie magazines that they hand out. He wanted to bring one back to the penthouse so he and Skylar could pick a movie for date night." I explained. "Jess, what's the big deal?"

"I'm just surprised you went to the movies with her." She commented, looking down.

"And Oliver. I went to the movies with her, and Oliver, as is our tradition, something we've been doing since we were ten." I re-explained to her. "And I would have invited you, but you've told me on four separate occasions that you don't like superhero movies."

"They're unrealistic, and make these guys out to be perfect, which they are most definitely not." Jessica reasoned. "And that's not the point Kaz! I don't like you spending so much time with your ex-girlfriend."

"Well, that's a little hard, considering she's working with my team, and, oh yeah, she's my friend." I retorted. She crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair to give me the stink eye. "Jessica, you have nothing to worry about there. Dani and I are done, over. Nothing's going to change that. You're the girl I like."

"Yeah, you like me. But you love her." She pointed out, her voice less angry and more hurt now. I opened my mouth to tell her that she was wrong, but she stopped me. "It's not just the movies, Kaz. I can see it in your eyes every time she's in the room. Things were going great between us, but then she came back, and now you're distracted, you're running out on dates, and frankly, she's the problem."

"Jessica," I sighed, "we're not getting back together. That's not going to happen."

"But it's what you want to happen, isn't it?" She asked me, eyes searching mine for an answer she knew I wouldn't say aloud. She sighed, having evidently found what she was looking for. "I'm no one's second choice, Kaz. I deserve better than that. So you need to make a choice: either you're all in with me, or…you're not with me."

** Chase's POV **

"Yes!" I grinned, watching the point total rise. Despite the number of attacks that Frostbite and Crossbow had fought off this week, between Adam, Leo, Katherine, and Rio's efforts, my fantasy team hadn't just gained ground in our competition, we'd caught up. It had been almost two full days since we'd made the bet, but already each team was tied with over a hundred points a piece. "Tied already!"

"We still have five more days to beat you. Don't get cocky." Oliver retorted, giving me a look. Ever since Kaz had unexpectedly dropped out of the competition yesterday, without much of an explanation, he'd been more determined than ever to beat me and AJ in the competition.

"Ollie, he's always cocky." Dani pointed out teasingly, walking next to her brother. She was smirking, obviously delusional with the belief that they were still going to win the bet. At least, she was smirking until she walked into the ER of the hospital and found both Angela Conner and Melody Robins sitting on gurneys, talking with Rani. "What are you guys doing here?"

When the three girls turned around, you could tell the twins were in trouble. Neither Melody nor Angela were injured, but neither of them looked too pleased with the Shorts. And judging by the eager anticipation on Rani's face, they were about to be in trouble.

"Did you tell Arciere to give us all the missions involving villains and hand out all the simple ones to everyone else just so you could win extra points in a stupid competition?" Angela demanded, standing up and crossing her arms.

"No, of course not. We didn't do…" Dani turned to look at her brother, eyes widening in surprise. "Oh my God, Ollie, I was joking when I suggested that!"

"Chase and AJ are going to win, Dani." Oliver pointed out, frustrated. "It's not like Skylar or I can win points for the team, what with nothing going on in or around Centium City this week."

"So you decided that the entire thing was going to rest on our shoulders?" Melody accused, also standing up. Suddenly, the temperature in the room dropped, but I couldn't tell if it was a result of the tension in the air, or Melody's actual powers.

"You guys could handle it. I mean, you've done this a million times." Oliver frowned, not seeing the problem.

"It's exhausting, Oliver. And missions right after each other? We're not gods." Melody argued.

"I'm sorry." He apologized sincerely. "You're right, I didn't think about how much this was putting on you guys."

"There's a reason why we spread missions out among the team, and not send the same people every time." Angela added.

"I'm sorry." Oliver apologized again.

"We're sorry." Dani corrected, giving her twin a half smile. "It was my idea, joking or not."

"Are we forgiven? We won't do it again." Oliver promised.

"I suppose." Angela sighed dramatically.

"But we are quitting the fantasy league." Melody added.

"What?" Oliver objected.

"Well, taking a break is more accurate. We'll be back for the next set of drafts, but until then we're out." Angela replied.

"But you guys are the only ones on my team other than me and Skylar. There's no way I'll win if you guys quit." Oliver insisted.

"Well…" Melody and Angela exchanged looks. "That's a real shame, buddy."

And with those cheerfully spoken words, they walked away, heading towards Horace to presumably say hello before they headed back to New York.

"Well, I guess that means you're out of the competition." AJ pointed out, turning towards Oliver. Suddenly, my phone rang.

"Hello?" I replied, answering it on the second ring.

" _So, after gettin' a call from a Melody-girl, I went to talk to Logan and he told me somethin' mighty interesting."_ Katherine drawled into the speaker.  _"You wanna guess what he might o' said?"_

I licked my lips nervously, then put the phone against my shoulder and turned to AJ. "Uh, yeah, AJ. We might be out too."

** Kaz's POV **

"Hey." I glanced up from my drink at the sound of Oliver's voice. He walked up next to me to lean against the wall of the veranda, looking down at the sunset glow bathed city.

"Hey." I greeted, not moving from where I was. "So, Rani tells me that we tied? How'd that happen?"

"Well, Mels and Angela both pulled out of the fantasy league, as did Chase's entire team. Something about us taking it all too seriously."

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "We are a competitive bunch." I admitted. Oliver laughed.

"That is hard to deny." He agreed. "Anyway, we came to an agreement. We let the bionic people who aren't already against the fantasy league idea into the next roster, and Chase will let us have those upgrades to the hospital that we wanted."

"Please tell me you got us the invisible ambulance." That thing was just hilarious and fun to confuse people with.

"Calla's going to put an invisibility feature in one of the ambulances we already have sometime this week." He told me. I smiled a little at that. "So, what's up? What happened?"

"What makes you think that something happened?" I asked. Oliver gave me a look.

"Because I'm your best friend and also, I'm not an idiot." He replied. I sighed.

"Jessica and I broke up." I admitted. He grimaced sympathetically.

"You or her?" He asked.

"I…it was her idea, I guess, but she somehow made me be the one who ended up breaking up with her? I…girls are confusing, man." I replied, shrugging helplessly.

"I hear you on that one." Oliver agreed, turning around to press his back up against the wall. He glanced at me. "What happened?"

I sighed. "She said…well, she thinks I'm still in love with your sister."

Oliver looked at me, not saying anything for a moment. Then, "Are you?"

I glanced over my shoulder, catching sight of Dani in the living room, sitting with Alivia and Chase as AJ told them a funny story about something that happened during his year in Philadelphia. It must have been a pretty funny story: Dani had the back of her hand, slightly curled, pressed against her lips as she tried to suppress her laughter, but her eyes, aglow with amusement, gave her away.

I sighed, turning back to look at the city. "I have no idea."


	7. S.H.I.R.T.

** Oliver's POV **

"Alright, this guy isn't supposed to have any powers, so this should actually be a pretty easy mission." Calla decided, her voice coming in through the comms. Alivia snorted in amusement next to me,

"He's a former apprentice of Dr. Wrath with a knowledge of the dark arts. Trust me, if working with Rani has taught me anything, it's never to underestimate magic." She reminded us before looking around the edge of the wall to make sure that the hallway was empty. The old apartment building wasn't exactly somewhere we wanted to be caught snooping – the people who lived here weren't the most law-abiding people, from what we could tell, and we didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble with the tenants when we were only after one of them.

"And we're sure he's got the Grimoire of Wrath, right?" Chase checked, frowning. He hadn't been particularly excited for this mission, still banking on technology being more useful in finding our friends, but he wasn't about to let any advantage escape us, even if it was one he didn't believe in.

"Yeah. Arciere's source says its in his possession." Calla confirmed. "It's not as powerful as the spellbooks Rani lost, and she likely knows most of the spells already, given that she was Wrath's student for years, but it'll certainly give her a boost."

"She's going to hate that she missed this." Bree mentioned.

"Well, it can be a surprise for her when she, Skylar, Dani, and Kaz get back from dropping those guys off at UPSEI." Calla reasoned. "Besides, waiting's not a good idea. The drone I've got in the air just got a pic of him in his apartment. You're good to go."

"Alright. Bree, Oliver, you two go in first and distract him. Geminus and I will take him down, while Jaden, you get the spellbook. Remember, Hendricks is notorious for using his spells to distract people while he steals from them – don't let him cause you to lose your focus."

"Let's just go already." Bree insisted, gesturing for me to go first. Smirking, I stepped in front of the apartment door, then charged at it, slamming into it with my shoulder. With my super strength helping to break the door down with ease, I led the way into the apartment. Hendricks, a thirty-something-year-old petty thief we'd been tracking for a week was in the apartment alright, sitting on the couch watching TV. He leapt up in surprise when we came bursting in, just as Bree sped at him.

" _Clipeum!"_  He shouted, raising his hand. Suddenly, Bree stopped running, bouncing backwards off of something we couldn't see.

"The hell?" She demanded, shocked.

"Okay, I don't know who you freaks are, but you're messing with the wrong warlock!" Hendricks announced. Bree glanced at me.

"Wait, are we actually supposed to call you guys witches and warlocks? I just thought we were teasing Nyx when we called her that." Bree asked loudly.

"Wizards has a better ring to it. What about Harry Potter?" I asked Hendricks, frowning deeply as if the matter was deeply important to me. Hendricks rolled his eyes.

"Don't give me that Hogwarts crap, you know that's all fake." He insisted, annoyed by the reference.

"Yeah, but they are so much better looking than you." Bree teased. Hendricks glowed at her, then raised a hand.

" _Perdere!"_ He shouted, and a blast of energy, a weird mixture of orange and black, flew at Bree. She sped out of the way with ease, and I took advantage, raising my hand and sending a wave of ice at him. Whatever he used earlier to protect himself from Bree also protected himself from the ice, but the ice left a layer over the invisible shield, blocking his view of us. Unable to see us or where our attacks were coming from, he was forced to remove whatever spell he had cast as a shield.

That gave Chase and Alivia the chance they needed to get in and attack him. Three redheads raced past me, followed closely by Chase. Before Hendricks could replace his shield with one not covered in ice, Chase used his telekinesis to slide a chair into the criminal, distracting him long enough for Alivia and Chase to get too close to be blocked by the shield. Meanwhile, I could hear Jaden in the background, rifling through drawers and cupboards in search of the grimoire.

"Have you checked the bookshelf?" I called over my shoulder.

"What kind of idiot would put a powerful spellbook somewhere anyone could see it?" Jaden retorted. A moment later, he spoke up again. "Nevermind, I found it."

"Where was it?" Bree called, smirking. Jaden didn't answer. "The bookshelf?"

"Shut up." He grumbled in response.

Suddenly, Chase stopped, stepping back from Hendricks as two of Alivia's doppelgangers held Hendricks against the wall. "What's wrong?" Bree demanded, recognizing the look on her brother's face.

"I…I don't know." Chase frowned. "I thought I heard-"

And that's when everything went to hell.

Suddenly, men and women in black Kevlar started filing into the room, carrying weapons and wearing masks. They didn't stop coming until there was about twenty of them in the tiny apartment, each of their weapons pointed at us.

"Stand down." One of them, a woman whose face was covered by a mask and goggles, ordered. "Or we will shoot."

We all exchanged looks, slowly raising our hands to show that we were unarmed. Well, this was certainly an interesting way to start the day.

** Xxx **

"Where the hell are they taking us?" Bree hissed as we were led down a tunnel at gunpoint. The armed gunmen and gunwomen had marched us through the tunnels from the apartment, all the way to concrete wall and door. They'd brought us through the door, revealing an underground facility. It was modern and high-tech from the looks of it and from the platform we were being led across, we could see what looked like a command center, complete with a cyberdesk (like ours, but bigger and rectangular) in front of a massive supercomputer. At one point, three of the guards split off, taking Hendricks with them across another platform overlooking the command center, while the rest of us were all ushered into a small conference room.

The room was empty and ordinary in appearance, the only things in the room being a computer screen, a conference table, and a dozen chairs. As the door closed behind us, I could see two of the guards standing in front of the door.

"Alright, who are they, where are we, and what the hell is going on? I think those are the most important questions." Skylar declared, eyeing the door carefully.

"Forget about that; we can figure it out later. We need to get out of here." Jaden shook his head, looking at us. "What if they're the guys who took our friends? They have the resources to do so, the number, and they did just kidnap us."

"I don't think it's that simple." Chase shook his head. "I say we let this play out, see what happens."

"Why in the world would we do that?" I demanded, looking at him incredulously.

"Because this doesn't feel like a kidnapping." Alivia reasoned. We all looked at her. "Well, yeah, it  _is_  a kidnapping, but I don't think they plan on keeping us here. And I don't think they're the ones who took Lily and the others."

"What makes you say that?" Bree asked, frowning. Alivia smiled.

"I can still feel my powers, which means I can duplicate if I wanted to. And I'm guessing your cryokinesis is still available if we need it?" She asked, glancing at me. I frowned, then place my hand on the table. Instantly, a small patch of frost covered the area around my hand.

"And I can still access my bionic supercomputer." Chase added. "They've made no effort to block our abilities, which means they're either ridiculously overconfident in their ability to overpower us, or they don't think that we have a reason to use them against them."

"And the reason we can't track Lily, Liam, Kieran, or Taylor is because they're somewhere where powers, bionics, and magic can't work. Meaning wherever they are, it's not here."

"Maybe." Bree frowned. "I still don't like this."

"Neither do I." I voiced my opinion.

"None of us do, but there's more here than meets the eye." Alivia reasoned. "Maybe you're right, maybe they're the bad guys, but right now, I think it's best that we ask questions before shooting our way out of here."

"Not to mention, not all the team is here. Calla was on the comms, she'll know we're missing. And since our powers are evidently working, we are somewhere that Rani can track us to."

"Which means the others will come for us." I realized. I frowned, trying something.

"Precisely. So we hold tight for now, and see what they…" Chase trailed off as voice started coming from outside the door.

"You can't do this! Do you have any idea who-hey!" The door opened up and Calla was pushed in, Noah held tightly in her arms. She spun around instantly, not noticing us in her anger. "When I get out of here, you're going to wish you'd never even come to Centium City!"

"You tell 'em, babe." Chase chuckled, amused. Calla's head whipped towards us, her expression going from surprised to relieved in a second.

"So," she said, as she recovered from her surprise, "have we come up with an escape plan yet, or were you all waiting for me?"

** Skylar's POV **

"Okay, that's just mean. Kaz, you're supposed to be my friend!" Dani retorted as we waited for the elevator to stop on our floor.

"I am, and it is my duty, as your friend, to tell you that you are a terrible singer, and I think that you singing at a karaoke club is most definitely the last thing Rani wants for her birthday." Kaz insisted.

"He's absolutely right." Rani agreed, dead serious. "No karaoke."

"You two suck. Ollie says I'm a great singer." Dani insisted.

"Has Oliver ever told you there was something you couldn't do?" I asked, glancing at them over my shoulder. When Dani opened her mouth to reply, I added, "Unless it was something that could end with anyone getting seriously injured and/or killed?"

Dani let out an annoyed sigh. "Well, then what are we doing for your birthday? It's next Friday, right?"

"We don't have to do anything." Rani pointed out, shrugging as we stepped off the elevator. "I mean, it's not a big deal."

"Dude, you're turning 21. If it weren't for the fact that our birthdays weren't for another month, then we'd take you out to a bar." Kaz pointed out, smirking at her as he headed for our door. He stopped in front of it, his expression turning serious. "Not again."

Before I could ask what he was talking about it, I saw what he was staring at; the cracked frame of the door, the door itself half-cracked. Our apartment was broken into, again. I just glanced at the others, then pushed my way into the penthouse. Unlike last time, the apartment looked untouched, as if nothing had happened except for the damage to the door.

" _Invenies populum."_ Rani raised her hands and a purplish light pulsed out of them, casting the room in the purple light. She frowned after a moment. "There's someone hiding in the bathroom upstairs."

"Just one?" I whispered, keeping quiet so as to not alert them to our presence. Rani nodded and I gestured for Kaz and Dani to deal with it. That way, if whoever it was got past them, Rani and I would be able to deal with them. I watched as Kaz and Dani slowly made their way up the stairs. A moment later, there was a loud bang as one of them threw the door open, the sound of a blast, and a high-pitched scream. Another few moments passed, and we heard the sound of laughter.

"Uh, guys? You alright?" Rani called, confused.

"Yeah, we're good. I think we made AJ shit his pants though." Kaz chuckled, coming down the stairs with Dani, also laughing, and AJ, looking like he'd just had the life scared out of him, in tow.

"You didn't scare me that bad." AJ insisted.

"Yeah, that's why you shot at us." Dani pointed out, holding the plasma blaster she'd taken from him up for me to see.

"I thought you were the people from earlier!" He argued.

"What people?" Rani questioned sharply.

"AJ, what happened? Where is everyone?" I asked. AJ, meanwhile, just looked around, focusing in on the busted front door. "AJ!"

"Uh…" he shook himself. "There was a mission. Everyone but Calla left to take care of it. It was just me, her, and Noah here. I went to go to the washroom, and I heard a loud bang."

"That must have been whoever broke in breaking down the door." Dani observed. I nodded and turned back to AJ.

"What happened then?" I urged the kid to continue.

"Well, I heard Calla ask what they were doing, and then they ordered her to come with them. She said something really loud about them being smart about breaking in when she was the only one home, so I figured she wanted me to hide." AJ explained. "So I grabbed a spare weapon from her bedroom, and locked myself in the bathroom."

"How long ago was this?" Rani asked. AJ shrugged.

"Half hour? Forty-five minutes?" He guessed. He frowned. "I was going to hide in there until Chase and the others got back, but they should have been back ages ago."

I looked to Dani immediately. "Dani, can you-"

"They're alright." She assured me before I can finish, obviously having already contacted Oliver telepathically before I could speak. I let out a sigh of relief. "I mean, they have been kidnapped."

"What?" Kaz looked at her like she'd grown an extra head.

"They were taken on their mission by twenty or so gunmen." Dani frowned, pausing as she listened to Oliver's voice in her head. "No one's hurt, and they haven't even tried to block their powers. Calla and Noah are with them now, they're okay too."

"What's the escape plan?" I questioned, needing to know where they needed us to be for this to work. Dani scoffed.

"They don't have one. Chase wants to find out why they were taken before trying to escape, and with Noah there, no one wants to take any unnecessary risks. He said to be on stand-by in case they need us though."

"Are you serious?" Rani demanded in disbelief. Dani nodded.

"Then that's what we'll do." I decided.

"Are  _you_  serious?" Rani questioned, turning on me. "Our friends get kidnapped, and we just do nothing?"

"Well, it's not like we know where they are. They don't even know where they are." Dani pointed out.

"Yeah, but…what if these are the same guys who took Liam, Lily, and your bionic friends. They were taken, and the only proof we have that they're still alive is the word of two idiots who came through a space portal from the future. Waiting for them to send us a signal to come get them? That's a terrible idea." Rani insisted. "For all we know, they could disappear just like the others."

"Aw, Rani, I didn't know you cared." Kaz teased. She sent him a glare. "I mean…please don't kill me."

"I don't care. But if I let Alivia get taken, Barry and the others are going to kill me." She insisted, heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" I demanded.

"To go find them. Maybe you're okay with taking the chance of something happening, but I'm not." She declared before walking out the door. We watched her go, waited a few moments to see if she'd turn back, then look at each other.

"Well, you can't say that she makes things boring around here." Kaz declared, dropping onto the couch. I sighed.

"One of us is going to have to go after her." I sighed.

"Have fun with that." Dani told me, sitting down next to Kaz and leaning back in the couch. I gave her a look. "Oh no, I'm not doing it. I know how she gets when she's like this, and I'm not going to try and stop her."

"Why not?" I questioned.

"Because the last time I did, she locked me in a storage closet for four hours. FOUR! And the only reason I got out that quickly was because Lily came looking for me." Dani scowled at the memory. "So yeah, I'm not doing it. You can if you want though."

I sighed. "I can't believe you two." I muttered under my breath before leaving to try and find Rani before she did something stupid.

** Oliver's POV **

"Alright, Dani said she'd tell the others what I said." I told the others while they tried to figure out where we were.

"Oh, by the way, them knowing where we live and breaking in while you guys were out? Not even the weirdest thing about this." Calla was saying. "I'm guessing you didn't see who the secretary was, did you?"

"They brought us in through the tunnels. We didn't see any secretary." Jaden replied, frowning.

"Well, they brought me in through the front door. The secretary," she shook her head in disgust before looking at Chase. "It's Sienna."

"Seriously?" Chase looked at her, eyes widening in surprise. "Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent. And she saw me, I know she did." Calla shook her head angrily.

"Hey, I'm not from around here, so if you don't mind me asking, who is Sienna?" Alivia questioned.

"Sienna Henig." I explained. She gave me a look. "AJ's mother."

"Are you serious? His mother works here?" The Irish hero stared at us.

"Apparently so." Bree frowned, not liking this development.

"Okay, but that doesn't prove anything. I mean, we still don't know why we were taken." I pointed out. "Maybe there's a perfectly good explanation for all of this."

"Oh, yeah, sure there is." Jaden rolled his eyes as he softly bounced Noah on his knee. "There's totally a logical, good reason for why they kidnapped seven people, including a seven-month old."

"Well," In the midst of our conversation, we hadn't noticed the door open and three people walk in, "in our defense, we never told the men to take the baby as well."

We all turned to our visitors, surprised to see that I recognized one of the three faces. "You've got to be kidding me." Calla muttered in surprise, staring at them.

** Skylar's POV **

"Hey, wait up!" I called, finally managing to find Rani near the park. She had her back to me, walking with purpose. "Rani!"

She paused on the sidewalk, more out of surprise than obedience. The second she did, I saw a small needle hovering above the palm of her hand, pointing in the direction she'd been heading. "How'd you find me?"

"I had MISS run facial recognition to tell me where you were." I explained. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for our friends…I thought that was obvious." Rani snapped, turning around to continue on her way.

"No, I mean, what's this?" I questioned, jogging to keep up with her. I gestured at the needle, waiting for an answer.

"Tracking spell. It's rudimentary, but it works." She replied, keeping her eyes locked on the needle.

"You know, you being able to track them magically kinda helps Chase's point: if we can track them like that, but not Liam, Lily, Kieran, or Taylor, then they must be in different places right?" I pointed out, trying to get her to stop and think.

"Not necessarily. There could be something blocking Liam and the others from my magic, but not the team." Rani reasoned.

"Why would they do that?" I asked. She kept walking, so I grabbed her arm and forced her to stop for a moment. "Seriously, Rani. Why would they do that to one set of our friends, and not the others? Can you think of any logical reason why they would do that?"

"Not off the top of my head, but give me some time and I can come up with something." The witch insisted. I sighed.

"Rani," I said calmly, "there is no logical reason. I don't know what's going on, or who kidnapped the team, but they aren't the same people. Which means, we need to be more careful. We can't fight two enemies that we don't know anything about."

"That's why Chase is waiting it out. He wants to get as much info about them before we strike?" Rani confirmed. I nodded. "That's asinine. Every second they're in there, the more likely it is that they're not walking out. Escaping now is their best option."

"We don't know that." I told her. "It might be worth the risk."

"So, should we hold off on finding Liam, Lily, and your bionic friends? Because, you know, they might be able to find out something?" Rani challenged. I sighed.

"That's different. Dani's in constant contact with Oliver. If anything happens, we'll know." I reminded her.

"By time we find out, it might be too late. Their connection could be cut off like this." Rani snapped her fingers for emphasis. "And maybe it'll be because they blocked us, or maybe Oliver will be dead. You really want that on your conscious?"

I flinched at her words. "Too far, Shore."

Rani licked her lips, seeming to consider that she was pushing me past my limits. "Maybe. But it's the truth. Waiting is stupid and dangerous. For God's sake, there's a baby in there."

"Bree and Jaden would die before letting anything happen to Noah. Same with the rest of the team." I pointed out.

"That's my point. If we wait, they could all die." Rani told me, dead serious. I sighed, realizing how right her words were.

"We should head back to the Penthouse and grab Kaz and Dani for backup." I decided. "At least they're not stupid enough to go after the others on their own."

** Kaz's POV **

"Skylar is absolutely going to kill us when she finds out that we went after Oliver and the others on our own." I mentioned, glancing at Dani as we made our way through the tunnels. She glanced up at me, a smirk on her lips, before looking back at the virtual map in front of her.

"Well, if everything goes our way, then we'll be back with the others by time she tracks down Rani." She replied.

"Since when do things go our way?" I chuckled.

"Fair enough." She agreed, looking up from the map. She glanced around, then nodded to herself. "Okay, so going off of Naomi's map of the tunnels, there's an area this way that's restricted. Given that it's so close to where AJ said the others went on their mission, I think it's a good place to start, right? I mean, Ollie did say they were brought through the tunnels."

"True." I raised my hand, using my pyrokinesis to light the way. Suddenly, my phone began to vibrate. I glanced at the caller ID. "Shit. It's Skylar."

"Don't tell her what we're doing." Dani hissed. I quickly answered it.

"Hey Skylar, you find Rani yet?" I asked, faking a cheerful tone.

" _Where are you?"_ Skylar questioned, getting straight to the point.

"Where are you?" I replied, avoiding the question.

" _Back at the Penthouse, where you aren't."_  She answered, sounding a little annoyed.  _"Don't tell me you guys went after them on your own."_

"Okay. I won't tell you that." I agreed.

" _Oh my God, you guys are idiots."_  She cried, exasperated. Dani sighed, and held her hand out for the phone. I handed it over without a complaint.

"Look, Rani's right. And I think I've got a lead on where to find them." She told Skylar. She waited, listening, and I watched as her eyebrows shot upwards in surprise. "Uh, yeah. Okay. Sure."

She hung up, then started typing out a text. "What'd she say?" I asked, frowning. Dani didn't answer at first, instead waiting until she'd sent the text to reply to me.

"She wanted our coordinates. She and Rani are going to help." She replied, much to my surprise. "You know, I don't know what changed her mind about it, but since we're already out here, I'm claiming responsibility for it."

** Oliver's POV **

"Agent DeCook?" Alivia dropped her formerly crossed arms, looking at the blonde-haired man in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Better question, what are  _you_  doing here?" Chase demanded, looking at one of the men I didn't recognize. He was old – in his late forties, if I had to guess – and fairly skinny, with brown hair and a beard. The most notable thing about him though was the dirty look he gave Chase, Calla, Bree, and Jaden when Chase had spoken.

"I work here, Mr. Davenport." He sneered.

"Wait, you guys know each other?" I asked, confused.

"Geminus, Oliver, meet David Graham. He used to be a special agent that worked for the government." Jaden introduced us.

"Until you got me fired." Graham growled, apparently still resenting them for it.

"Well, if you didn't want to get fired, you shouldn't have been such a prick." Calla reasoned, leaning back in her chair with a smirk.

"Didn't you threaten to lock us in cages like circus freaks?" Bree asked. Graham opened his mouth to reply, but Miles cut him off.

"There's no need to bring up the past." He warned, giving Graham a silencing look. "And there will be no cages."

"So, what are you going to do with us then?" Alivia questioned. Miles looked at her, confused. "I mean, you did kidnap us, after all."

"That was a misunderstanding." The last of their group, an older man with dark brown hair and a thin beard finally addressed us. "I would like to apologize for that; my men were ordered to retrieve the self-proclaimed warlock. They were not expecting him to be engaged with you at the time, and my agents decided it would be best to take you along with him. When their mistake came to my attention, I sent for Mrs. Davenport and the rest of your team so that we could properly introduce ourselves as to avoid any ill-will."

"You sent for me? Trust me, there was a nicer way to ask than sending armed gunmen. Hell, they wouldn't even tell me where they were taking me." Calla snapped, annoyed. "And good luck finding our friends; they're part of an Elite Force for a reason. You'll never catch them."

"Agent DeCook will instruct his men to be more…forthcoming with information in the future." The bearded man replied, glancing at Miles.

"Agent." Alivia hummed, picking up on the word. "That's the second time you've said that word. If this is some sort of government agency, then it's not one I'm familiar with."

"We've only began operating in the past year or so. And knowing about us is above your paygrade, Ms. McLean." Graham sneered. Alivia stepped back, surprised that he knew her identity, then pulled off her mask and looked at the bearded man.

"Who are you and where are we?" She demanded, defensive and frustrated.

"My name is Arthur Bosetti, and I am the Director of S.H.I.R.T." The bearded man replied calmly. "You're at one of our headquarters."

"Shirt?" Jaden asked, confused. "As in the piece of clothing?"

"We're part of the Super Human Investigation and Response Team." Miles explained. "We investigate superhuman activity and respond if things get out of hand, similar to what I did at UPSEI, but with more resources."  **(1)**

"SHIRT." Calla seemed amused by the name. "What, is there a PANTS agency too?"

"Agency? No. But the Powerful And New Technology Sector is part of S.H.I.R.T.'s headquarters." Miles replied. Calla looked at him in scrutiny for a moment before turning to Chase.

"I can't tell if he's joking." She told him seriously. Chase looked at Director Bosetti.

"You say you're like UPSEI? That you stop superhumans. Like bionic people, like Krane?"

"Some times they're bionic. More often though, they have abilities given through supernatural causes. Abilities like Ms. McLean's and Mr. Short's, if I'm not mistaken." Director Bosetti explained, taking a seat. Alivia and Oliver both froze at that. "Yes, we do know you're superheroes. Though I must commend you on your idea to hide your abilities under the bionic excuse."

"You know about superheroes." Chase stated. It wasn't a question.

"Of course. And supervillains as well. I've been dealing with them for years. Your mother among them, Mr. Short." Director Bosetti looked at Oliver, looking him over as if trying to judge how much he was like Bridget.

"So, Miles," Calla cleared her throat, drawing their attention away from Oliver. "Faith told me you were working security at her lab. Where does she fit into all this?"

"Uhm…" Miles glanced at Director Bosetti, who nodded his consent. "Who do you think is in charge of P.A.N.T.S.?"

"Wait, you weren't kidding about that?" Jaden demanded.

"I need normal people in my life." Calla muttered to herself.

"Well, yes, but ignoring that," Bree looked at Bosetti. "What do you want from us?"

"Excuse me?" Director Bosetti looked at her appraisingly.

"Well, you brought us here, you say that you don't want ill will between us, so what do you want?" Bree asked again.

"A collaboration." Miles explained. "between the Elite Force, The New League of Heroes, and S.H.I.R.T.. We want to work with you to put super humans behind bars for good. To do good, to save people. Exactly what you're doing now, but with more resources."

"Really? You're on board for this?" Chase glanced at Graham. Graham rolled his eyes.

"Well, I did head up a team focused on capturing super humans before…the incident." Graham replied.

"You mean the smoothie incident?" Calla smiled to herself. "Ah, good times."

"Why would we work for you?" Alivia questioned.

"With, not for." Bosetti explained. "Again, for the same goal. You'd be able to use our resources to help the people you'd be trying to help anyway, under the condition that you keep us in the loop about major superhuman activity."

"Such as?" Alivia questioned, sitting down on the table. When Graham looked like he was going to object, she smirked a little before turning back to Bosetti, smiling as she waited for her answer.

"Major developments with supervillains, warnings if there are especially dangerous criminals on the loose, things like that." Bosetti assured her. Alivia looked as if she were genuinely considering it. "And in exchange, we'll provide you with our resources for your missions and such. We'll even assist in helping you find Mr. Bennett, Mr. Daniels, Ms. Krane, and Ms. Michaels."

That caused us to pause. "How did you know that they were missing?" I asked sharply, glancing at Calla. She shook her head at my unvoiced question.

"I didn't tell Faith about that." She replied, disqualifying the only logical reason they had to know that information.

"Admittedly, another of my agents informed us of their abductions." Bosetti revealed.

"Another person we know is working for you? What, did you hire everyone we know?" I demanded. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. "I swear to God, if Dani is secretly moonlighting for another team again, I'm going to kill her."

"No, your sister is not in our employment. I believe Agent Graham was referring to Agent Henderson." Bosetti replied. We all stared at him; she was the last person we'd expect to be a spy.

"Jessica?" We all demanded in sync. Bosetti nodded.

"Agent Graham brought her into the agency when we hired him last year." He explained. "But that is not important. What is important is that they are important assets to your teams, and if you were to work with us, you'd have the entire agency at your disposal to find them."

Even I had to admit, that was an enticing offer. We had no idea what was happening to our friends, and we needed to find them before the unthinkable happened to them. More than that, it wasn't like these people were complete strangers – Miles DeCook had been working with the New League of Heroes since Alivia formed it, giving us plenty of reason to trust that his intentions were the same now.

Suddenly, before any of us could reply, Miles' phone beeped. He checked it, glanced at us, then turned to address his boss. "Sir, Team A has caught Dani Short, Kaz Broadman, Skylar Storm, and Rani Shore attempting to break into the facility using black magic."

"Have them escorted here unharmed, DeCook." Bosetti instructed. Miles nodded, gave us a smile, then left to follow his orders. Bosetti turned back to us. "So? Do we have a future working together, or are we to go our separate ways?"

Chase glanced at the rest of us, then cleared his throat. "We're going to need to talk it over with our team."

"Of course." Bosetti nodded in understanding. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He removed a business card from inside it, the only thing written on it being his name and his number, and handed it to Chase. "Agent Graham will escort you and your friends out. Please, call me with your answer."

"We will." Chase agreed. Bosetti nodded and got out of his chair. He shook Chase's hand before leaving.

"It was a pleasure." He told us before leaving to go do whatever it was that he did as director. Meanwhile, Miles led Kaz, Dani, Skylar, and Rani into the room.

"Uh, we're here to rescue you?" Kaz tried, grinning sheepishly. Bree shook her head.

"Come on." She pushed past him to follow Graham towards the exit. The others watched our group in confusion as we all filed out, bewildered by the serious expressions and Calla's utterance of her decision to kill both Jessica and Faith when she saw them next.

"What did we miss?" Dani asked, confused. I sighed and put my arms around Skylar's shoulder.

"I'll tell you on the way." I told them, following the others.

** Skylar's POV **

"I don't trust them." Rani declared the moment Chase finished speaking. We were all back at the Penthouse, sitting around the living room as the others filled us in on what we'd missed.

"You have trust issues." Dani pointed out.

"That doesn't mean I'm wrong about trusting them." Rani pointed out. "I mean, they're a secret government organization. This has HYDRA written all over it."

"Okay, I'm banning Marvel movies from movie night at the NLH." Alivia sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She glanced at us apologetically. "Melody has a thing for Sebastian Stan, so she's made us watch the Winter Soldier every time it's been her pick for movie night."

"I say we work with them. It doesn't matter if we trust them, we can use them. They have the resources we need to find the others." Dani pointed out.

"It would be nice to have some backup out there for once." Bree reasoned.

"I can't believe that Faith and Jessica have both been lying to me under my nose for a year now." Calla was still caught up in that little tidbit of information.

"I can't believe I dated a spy. I can't believe a spy broke up with me." Kaz too was deeply bothered by this revelation.

"Guys, can we focus?" Jaden called. He looked at the others. "We don't know anything about them aside from what they've told us. Everything they said could be a lie."

"I don't think so." Alivia frowned. "I've known Miles a long time; he started working at UPSEI the year after I became a sidekick. He's always done this kind of work, and if he says that's what he's doing now, I believe him. And I trust him."

"He has always be on the superhero's side of things." Oliver agreed, remembering our brief encounters with the former UPSEI agent.

"Yeah, but is trusting Miles enough?" Calla asked. "Rani's not wrong about there being a possibility of corruption. Graham is certainly not a good guy."

"He's not evil though." Jaden pointed out. Bree, Chase, and Calla all gave him dark looks. "Hey, I hate him too. Don't get me wrong, he's a horrible person. But he's also the type of horrible person who goes where money and personal success can be found, regardless of the side. And I'd be willing to bet that S.H.I.R.T. pays their agents a pretty penny."

"True. Graham would be on the right side for the right amount of money." Chase relented.

"I have an idea." I mentioned, getting everyone's attention. "Dani's right, they do have the resources we need to find the others. We can't let personal trust issues get in the way of saving the people we love. But it's also true that we can't trust them."

"What's your idea, Skylar?" Chase asked, intrigued.

"We work with them on a probationary period. Just until we find the others and take out whoever took them. We use them and their resources to save them, then…then if we still can't find a really good reason to trust them, we cut ties with them. End things as soon as our people are safe." I laid it out simply, and most of the others began to nod.

"I like it." Kaz agreed, flashing me a smile.

"As long as we save our friends." Alivia added.

"Everyone in agreement?" Chase checked. After everyone had voiced their agreement, he nodded to himself. "Alright, I'll go tell Bosetti that we're in."

He pulled out his phone and headed out onto the veranda to take the call somewhere quieter. "Well, this is bound to be interesting." Dani declared, taking a sip of her drink.

"I don't care if its interesting. I just want to find our friends." Oliver told her, serious.

"Oh! By the way, I totally forgot." Jaden reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a small, worn notebook. He handed it to Rani. "Our mission from earlier. It's the…"

"Grimoire of Wrath." Rani turned it over in her hands, smirking. "Oh, Dani's right. This is going to be interesting."


	8. Egypt

** Kaz's POV **

"Calla's still not taking my calls." Faith was waiting for us as we entered the S.H.I.R.T. base from the tunnel entrance. She was dressed in a mostly black uniform, with silver lines running down the length of the sleeves, along with a silver diamond on the front of her jacket. Judging by the looks of the other agents, black and silver were the agency's colors. Faith bit her lip nervously as she walked besides us, leading us towards the stairs down to Control Center. "How mad is she?"

"I don't think she's as mad as she is annoyed. Something about how Rebeccka is now her most normal friend." Chase replied. Faith grimaced.

"That's tough." She acknowledged. Chase chuckled.

"Give her some time, she'll calm down." He assured her. "How about this, you come over for dinner in a few days? Calla's in New York right now, but when she gets back, we can have a dinner party."

"Why's she in New York?" Faith frowned.

"Chase was annoying her." I chimed in. They both looked back at me and I grinned. "Don't give me that look; she was getting annoyed."

"No, she wasn't." Chase denied.

"Her exact words were 'Chase, you're driving me nuts, I'm going with Alivia to New York'." Dani added, smirking. Chase sent her a look, even as Faith laughed.

"Blunt and to the point. Sounds like my cousin." She smiled.

"Somebody's being overly fussy with her, especially with the baby on its way." Bree explained teasingly. She gave Chase a smile. "You have been over-protective lately."

"And apparently, you tried to convince her to take time off work even though the baby's not due until August." Skylar added.

"Being CEO of a company is extremely stressful, and that's without all of this going on," He gestured vaguely around him. "Stress isn't good for her or the baby; is it really that bad of an idea?"

"No, of course not, Chase. You're just doing it all wrong." Jaden told him. I chuckled at Chase's annoyed expression.

"And how would you do it?" He challenged.

"Trick her, make CeeCee think it's her own idea." Jaden reasoned. "Like…I don't know, get someone to annoy her so much that she decides for herself that she needs a vacation. Say to another state, maybe New York." Jaden smirked.

"Wait," Chase stopped in front of the large cyber desk, "are you saying that you guys were behind her going to New York?"

"We've been putting the idea of a vacation in her head for weeks." Bree laughed lightly. "And Frostbite's request for help at the NLH was just a perfectly timed coincidence."

Chase turned to her, looking as if he wanted to protest to the plan she and Jaden had been working on, but before he could, Director Bosetti approached us, Miles on his right and Sienna Henig on his left. Behind them was Jessica, dressed in the same uniform as Faith with her hair pulled up in a tight ponytail.

"Thank you for coming in, Elite Force." Bosetti gave us a friendly smile. He glanced at our group, confused. "I see we're missing a few of the team."

"One of the members of the New League of Heroes called Alivia and asked for her assistance with a minor issue." Skylar explained.

"What issue?" Sienna asked. She and Miles were both dressed the same, in long-sleeved dark grey shirts and black pants.

"She didn't say. She just stressed that it was important that Alivia and Rani return to New York." Dani explained. "Calla and my brother Oliver went with them."

"If it's something we should know about, we trust you'll keep us informed?" Miles questioned. Chase nodded.

"Of course." He agreed.

"Now that we've gotten the pleasantries out of the way, Sienna, if you'd please?" Bosetti stepped back and gestured for the black-haired woman to take the lead.

"Alright, so we collected all the information you had on the disappearances of Mr. Daniels, Ms. Krane, Mr. Bennett, and Ms. Michaels, along with the information concerning your recent break ins. Combined with the locations you've been able to eliminate using Ms. Shore's magic and our own information about where one would be able to keep four heroes, bionic or super, without being detected, we've managed to break it down to a list of possibilities." Sienna tapped a button on the keyboard in front of her and a hologram of the planet appeared in front of us. There were about a dozen silver dots lit up on the holographic globe, spread out across all seven continents.

"These are the twelve places most likely for your friends to be held. They are all magical dead zones, for lack of better words, where your friends might be being held." She continued. She looked at us. "They're the only places that they can be held without us being able detect them."

"Rani says that other magic can block our spells, depending on the power of the user." Skylar spoke up next to us. Sienna looked surprised that Skylar knew that, but after a glance at Bosetti, she responded.

"Yes, that's true, but we would be able to track an overload of magic like that." Sienna replied carefully. She frowned. "Your friend Rani sounds like she really knows her magic. I'd like to compare notes with her some time."

"I'll mention that to her when she gets back." Dani assured her. She gestured at the globe. "So, we're going to start our joint searches in these places?"

"Yes, starting with this spot." Sienna waved her hand, spinning the holographic globe, before stopping it with her finger over the glowing dot in an area near where the African and Asian continents intersected. "Our scanners picked up on a unique radiation signature. It's harmless, as Agent Parker tells us," she gestured at Faith as she spoke, "but it is extraterrestrial in origin."

"Are you sure? What planet did it come from?" Skylar questioned sharply, glancing at the rest of us as if we would know the answer.

"We're not sure, but it's nothing like anything we've ever seen on Earth. However, the signature is weak, enough that our normal scans would have missed it had we not been going over the dead zones so carefully." Sienna explained.

"You think that the radiation has something to do with where they're being held?" I questioned. Jessica nodded.

"It makes sense. I mean, I assume the heroes you're missing are pretty powerful?" She confirmed. "They'd need something powerful to keep them locked up and hidden for so long, and alien artifact would certainly have the power to do so."

"If we're wrong and they're not there, then we'll at least be able to find the alien artifact and possibly use it to help us." Faith added eagerly. Chase nodded.

"Then I guess we start in Egypt." He decided. Director Bosetti nodded.

"Agent DeCook, have a transport arranged." He instructed before walking away.

"It'll be ready in half an hour. If you guys need to get anything for the mission, I'd suggest doing so now." Miles suggested.

"I'm going to call Jazz, let her know that she's going to be babysitting for a few more hours than she expected." Jaden decided. We all started to part ways, all except one of us.

"Hey Kaz?" Jessica called, not moving from her place at the cyberdesk. "Um, can we talk for a minute?"

** Rani's POV **

"And that's the common area." Alivia declared, gesturing at the large living area that opened off of the eastern hallway on the second floor. Melody had called us the night before, saying that they needed some help with a 'minor' issue (I didn't think for a minute that it was as minor as she claimed, given that this was the first time the team had willingly called us home since we left for Centium City months ago, but I wasn't about to call her out on that over the phone), and so, Alivia and I, along with Oliver and Calla, had come straight to the base.

"Interesting." Calla hummed thoughtfully, even as she typed something on her phone. I shook my head, amused, having already seen the title of the note she was sending herself. We'd only been here for about an hour, and she was already working on a list of things she needed to update and improve in our home. If Alivia noticed though, she didn't say anything, instead continuing with the tour.

"And this is the kitchen." I added, stepping aside to let Kaz and Calla get a good view of the eating area. Tempest and Surge were already in there, talking in low voices as they ate what looked like leftover pizza.

"Hey guys." Alivia called, distracting them from their food. They both looked up, startled and surprised to see us. "Tempest, I'd like to introduce you to Calla Davenport and Oliver Short."

"Hi." "Hey." Calla and Oliver greeted.

"Hi...Uh, Geminus, we weren't expecting to see you here." Surge sent Tempest a glance. I frowned. Oh no, what were these idiots up to now?

"Yeah, well, Mels called, said it was important." Alivia replied, ignoring the glance. "I just need to grab some things from my office, and then I'm going to go find her and Alan."

"Uh, Arciere kinda moved into your office while you were gone." Tempest pointed out. Alivia nodded, unsurprised.

"I know, I told him he could. But I've still got things of mine in there." She didn't wait for another objection before heading down the hall and towards the rooms and the couple of private offices. I watched her go, then turned to the boys.

"Anything I should know about now?" I asked. They exchanged looks. "What did you guys do?"

"It's not so much what we did, it's who else is here." Surge replied, smirking a little. I looked at him in confusion for a moment before it dawned on me.

"Oh, this is...yeah." I realized. Oliver and Calla looked at me, confused.

"What's going on?" Calla questioned sharply. I laughed a little.

"Oh, you're going to love this." I told Oliver with a bit of a smirk myself. I quickly led them in the direction Alivia had gone in, catching up to her before she could make it to her office. "Liv, are you sure that you need to grab those things before we talk to Alan and Melody? I mean, I don't really believe that they called us all the way back here for something minor. It might be better that we talk to them first."

Alivia turned around and gave me a look. "Okay, I noticed those looks Christian and Ricky were giving each other in there. Is there something in my office that you don't want me to see?"

"Very possibly." I admitted. Alivia furrowed her brow, then quickly jogged up the stairs towards her office.

"Should we follow?" Tempest asked, appearing behind us.

"Perhaps." I agreed. "She's going to kill him, so that should be interesting to watch."

"You mean stop." He corrected.

"Sure." I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, will one of you please tell us what's going on?" Oliver asked, starting to get annoyed with us.

"Come and see." I encouraged, heading up the stairs myself. I barely made it halfway up when Alivia's voice, angry, echoed in the hall.

"What the hell, Barry?" She demanded. We all exchanged looks, then starting rushing towards the source, all but Calla going two stairs at a time.

"What's going on-oh." I had to stop myself from smiling in amusement when I saw the scene that Alivia had stumbled upon in her office. Barry was in there, lying on the long couch on the far side of the room. That wasn't the problem. The problem was the girl with dirty blonde hair on the couch with him, tangled up in a blanket. A girl who most definitely was not part of the team.

"Jordan?" Oliver demanded, recognizing his former classmate. Jordan gave him a half-wave in response, cheeks red with having been busted.

"Liv, hey, you're back!" Barry quickly pushed away from Jordan as the Normo hastily pulled her shirt back on. "What are you doing here?"

"Frostbite called me." Alivia growled, crossing her arms and glaring at him. Jordan swallowed thickly.

"You know, you seem like you're busy, so I'm just going to go..." She tried to slip out of the room, but Oliver put a hand on her shoulder, preventing her escape. "C'mon Oliver, you're supposed to be the nice one."

"Do you guys mind giving us a moment?" Alivia question, her voice having changed from furious to that sickly sweet polite tone that made even myself nervous.

"We'll be in the living area." Calla told her, gesturing at Tempest, Oliver, Jordan, and I to follow her away from the office. Jordan gave Barry an apologetic smile as Alivia shut the door. The moment it was closed, however, Calla turned back to us with a puzzled look on her face. "So, someone's going to explain this to me, right? Because I'm a little confused."

** Kaz's POV **

"Do we have to do this now, Jess?" I questioned, crossing my arms and leaning against the cyberdesk.

"I think I owe you an explanation." She said carefully, glancing at me as if trying to gage my reaction.

"What's there to explain? You were secretly a spy the entire time I was dating you." I replied. I looked at her. "Were you ever even an actress?"

"I did a couple of a small theatre things before Agent Graham found me. He asked me to join the agency he'd been working for at the time because of the amount of time I'd spent around the Davenports." She replied. She looked down at her hands, leaning against the cyberdesk next to me. "Usually, I say I'm a cashier or waitress as my cover, but when I moved down here, Calla already knew me and that I'd been trying to get into acting, so I went with that."

"Uh huh." I licked my lips, annoyed. She sighed.

"I lied to you, and I'm sorry. I know that wasn't fair to you." She apologized.

"No, it wasn't. But it doesn't matter, does it? You broke up with me, remember?" I pointed out.

"No, I gave you a choice. You chose to leave." She argued.

"You gave me an ultimatum, Jessica. There's a difference." I retorted. "And I'm starting to think I made the right choice. I mean, were you going to tell me about any of this?"

"Yes!" She insisted.

"When?" I demanded.

"That day. If you'd chosen me over her." She responded. I didn't answer that, too frustrated to really come up with an answer. "Were you ever going to tell me that you weren't bionic?"

I glanced at her, then looked away. "I didn't think so." She nodded to herself. She sighed. "Look, our relationship was far more complicated than either of us were willing to admit. Maybe it was best that we ended things."

"Maybe." It was the first time I'd agreed with her today.

"Are we going to be okay working together?" She asked after a long moment. She looked at me imploringly. "I can request that I don't work on this job, but your choices are either me or Agent Graham, and I know that your friends don't like him that much."

I sighed. "I can be professional." I agreed. She nodded.

"Good. Then let's go to Cairo." She decided.

"Let's go to Cairo." I agreed, already wondering if I was going to regret not tagging along with Oliver and the others on their trip to New York.

** Rani's POV **

We all watched the hallway like hawks, wincing every time either Barry or Alivia's voices raised high enough for us to hear all the way down here. By now, Alan and Melody had both joined us at the table, and were patiently waiting for them to finish having it out. Tempest and Surge had left on a mission, practically jumping at the chance to get of here before Alivia finished with Barry.

"She is really mad." Jordan whispered, glancing at Oliver.

"Telling Normos about superheroes is a big no-no." Oliver whispered back. I didn't know why we were whispering - there's no way they could hear us from over there, even if they did stop their argument long enough to listen - but it felt appropriate. "And bringing one into the base? That's definitely against the rules."

"Trust me, this is nothing." Alan added, watching the hallway apprehensively. "You should have heard the lecture my Uncle Horace gave Blue Tornado after he accidently led him," he jerked him thumb at Oliver, "Kaz, and Dani into Mighty Med for the first time."

"And besides, Barry's supposed to be 'in charge'," I added, though I figured, knowing Barry, that his authority had been pretty relaxed since our departure, "so I don't think this is giving Geminus much faith in him."

"When did you find out?" Oliver questioned, turning to Jordan. She waved her dismissively.

"A few months ago. Better question, how could you not tell me?" She added accusingly.

"Horace kept threatening to cube us." I explained. Both her and Calla looked at me in confusion, but before either of them could ask what I meant by 'cube', Alivia walked in, Barry trailing behind with a sufficiently scolded look on his face.

"What are you talking about?" Alivia questioned, taking a seat next to me on the couch.

"Cubing people?" Calla replied, a puzzled look still on her face. "Though I'm not entirely sure what that means."

"It means we have the technology to literally turn people into small cubes." Alivia replied, examining her fingernails. She looked up at Jordan sharply. "We do it to people who reveal the existence of superheroes and stuff."

Her tone was light, but the look she was giving Jordan said otherwise. Jordan nodded slowly. "Message received." She mumbled. Alivia looked at me.

"Okay, so I figure that Christian and Ricky both knew about this, seeing how fast they got out of here, but did any of you know about this?" She questioned. When Alan, Melody, and I all raised our hands, she sighed irritably. "Of course you did."

"Hey, look at it this way: I'm pretty sure keeping rebellious secrets from your boss is a form of team bonding." I offered. She just gave me a look. "I'm going to shut up now."

Alivia sighed again, then turned to Jordan. "Since you're here, you might as well make yourself useful. Barry says you've been supplying information from comics, like Kaz and the twins used to do?"

"Yeah, I helped them take down a few low-level villains, find a spellbook," Jordan gestured at me, then shrugged. "It's fun."

"I'm glad you think so. I might consider making your position a permanent one." She decided. Jordan smiled at the idea.

"Wait, what's your source for the information. Ambrose died when Roddiseus and his family attacked Mighty Med." Oliver pointed out.

"His daughter, who has the same powers, took over Mighty Comics a couple of years ago." Jordan explained.

"Look, as interesting as this is," And it really wasn't, "Do you want to tell us why you guys called us back here?"

"Wait, did you...guys, I told you we had that under control." Barry gave them both a stern look.

"No, we don't, Barry." Melody told him, equally stern.

"How about we be the judge of that?" Oliver suggested. I nodded.

"What's going on?" I asked, leaning back on the couch.

"We...we may have lost a prisoner." Barry admitted.

"What do you mean you 'lost a prisoner'?" Calla asked, confused.

"Well, when Mighty Med was destroyed, so was Mighty Max, our supervillain prison. Now, we use UPSEI when we can, but for some of the more dangerous ones, or the ones that need a little extra guarding, we have a secondary facility in the city." Alivia explained before looking at Barry. "Are you telling me that one escaped?"

He hesitated before finally responding. "Yes, but before you get all worked up about it, I have Crossbow out there looking for her now. It's handled"

"Tell her who's missing." Alan instructed. Judging by his tone, he wasn't too happy with the way Barry was handling things, and while Alan was normally not happy with the way anyone did anything, he looked particularly put off by this. Alivia and I both turned to Barry.

"Well?" I asked impatiently.

"The Incinerator." He admitted. Alivia groaned.

"You have got to be kidding me." She muttered. "You lost the Incinerator?"

"Don't give me that look. She broke out on Crossbow's watch." Barry snapped.

"No, don't go blaming Angela. One of us screws up, it's everyone's problem, so we don't go putting blame on anyone." I stopped him there, annoyed. That had been one of the first rules Alivia had put into my head after I'd officially joined the team, and Barry should know it by now. "What happened?"

"She attacked Crossbow between guard changes, and broke out of the facility the other night." Melody explained. She looked at Alivia imploringly. "Look, I know she's just one villain and that we've fought her before, but she's extremely violent and with that fire fetish of hers, it's only a matter of time before she starts burning down buildings in the city. Crossbow's good at her job, but I don't think she's the right one of the job, and I sure as hell don't think that one person can take her down."

"Why don't you think Angela should be in charge of taking her down?" Alivia asked, trying to figure out Melody's train of thought. Melody sighed.

"Look, Crossbow's an expert at taking people out at a distance. You want a sharpshooter or an assassin captured? She's your girl, hands down. But most of the villains I deal with have elemental abilities like the Incinerator. Not to mention, there's no one alive who knows her as well as I do." Melody insisted. I frowned at first, confused, but then I remembered that the Incinerator's nemesis had been Snowstorm, Melody's late aunt. "I asked for your help because Oliver and I have abilities that directly oppose hers, because I know Rani has worked with her in the past, and because I knew you'd see sense in what I'm saying."

"And what about her?" Jordan asked, gesturing at Calla.

"Oh, I just needed a vacation." She explained.

Alivia seemed to consider what Melody was saying. She sighed and looked at Barry. "She's right. You should have put her on this instead of Crossbow."

"Alright." Barry didn't seem to like being told what to do, but he didn't argue with her. "What's the plan then?"

Alivia licked her lips, thinking, then nodded to herself. "Alright, Calla and Jordan, I want you two going over all comics with the Incinerator in it. Find me a weakness, her MO, and a list of her potential targets. Rani, Mels, between everything you two know about her combined, do you think you can try to figure out the types of places she'd target?" Melody and I both nodded. "Good. Barry, call Angela, tell her that she's gonna have company out there real soon. Alan, Oliver, you two get suited up and be ready to go. We're leaving as soon as we have a list of places she might hit."

"Got it boss." Alan nodded and gestured for Oliver to follow him. Alivia nodded to herself, smiling.

"You missed this, didn't you?" I teased. She smirked and nodded.

"Like you wouldn't believe." She admitted.

** Kaz's POV **

Say what you would about S.H.I.R.T., but they had the coolest toys. Calla would be so jealous that she missed this, especially once she saw this ultra-cool high-tech jet. It wasn't like any of Davenport's, which were built for comfort, but this jet was more like a war machine, with computers and systems similar to our mission command built into it. We were all currently looking at one of their viewing screens, which showed what looked like a temple.

"So that's where they're holding Kieran, Taylor, and the others?" Bree questioned, surprised to see such a large temple in the middle of the desert.

"Possibly. You'd be surprised how many of these abandoned temples still exist out here that haven't been investigated by archaeologists." Faith reasoned, sitting in front of the screen. She glanced at Miles. "Alright, you're the boss. What's the plan?"

"Alright, this is the only entrance to the temple that we know about. We go in together and stick together. It's possible that the place is empty, but it's also possible that the entire base is filled with unknown mercenaries. Be prepared to walk into a trap. Faith, you're only here because of the possible alien artifact that Bosetti wants us to take home and study, but you have minimal field training, so I want you to stick especially close to us." Miles instructed. "If anything goes wrong, our priority is to get out of there without any casualties. At the end of the day, if we have to gather a stronger strike force and wait for the rest of your team to return from New York, we will. Understood?"

"Understood." Chase nodded. He glanced at us. "I'd like Bree to scout the place once we're in there, if you don't mind. With her speed, she can get a good idea of what we need to expect without getting caught."

"Agreed." Miles nodded as the jet's autopilot set us down about a kilometer away from the temple. "Sorry about the walk, but it's better to set down farther away rather than get seen setting down closer."

"No, it's smart." Skylar nodded.

"You sure you don't want me to speed in and scout now?" Bree questioned, glancing at Chase. Jaden shook his head.

"Personally, I'd rather if you wait honey, that way if something goes wrong, we're close enough to help you." He spoke up. Chase nodded.

"My thoughts exactly. Wait until we reach the temple, make sure that we can get in at all without being shot down."

"Alright, fine." Bree sighed, disappointed.

"Grab your stuff, let's go." Jessica commented, already grabbing a backpack off of an equipment table in the back.

We all started the slow trek towards the temple, kicking up sand as we went. It wasn't like I expected Egypt to be like - sure it was sandy with sand dunes as far as I could see, but it was more rocky than I expected, and there weren't any cacti in sight.

Eventually, we reached the temple. On the outside, it looked empty and abandoned, but a set of foot prints in the thin layer of sand in front of the broken wall we were using as an entrance told us otherwise.

"Someone else has been here, and recently." Dani observed, on guard.

"Keep your eyes peeled." Miles instructed, pulling out his gun. Jessica followed suit, while Faith adjusted her grip on her own weapon.

"Is that a plasma gun?" I recognized the model. Faith smirked.

"One of Davenport Industries' ones. I bought it when I joined the agency." She replied.

Without another word, we slowly made our way through the break in the wall. Chase, Miles, Skylar, and Jessica went first, with the rest of us following closely behind. The room was dark, nothing inside to imply that anything electrical was currently being used.

"Alright Bree, do your thing." Faith instructed. Bree smirked proudly, then sped forwards, through a nearby opening in the hallway.

Almost immediately, sand and dirt began to fall from the ceiling. "What the hell is that?"

"I...I don't think the temple's structural integrity can handle something moving so fast through its halls." Faith realized. "Chase, you should call-"

"I'm back." Bree suddenly skidded to a stop next to us. She shook her head. "I went through a couple of the rooms, but it started to look like the ceiling was gonna come down."

"Yeah. We're going to have to be careful when we use our powers or weapons." Skylar decided. "One wrong shot-"

"And we'll end up buried." Dani realized.

"So, no scouting and no shooting, if we can afford it." I muttered. "That's going to be a little difficult if anyone else is here."

"You think we should call it, wait until the others get back from New York for some backup?" Jessica offered.

"We're already here. If there's someone here, they know about us, so by time we come back, they'll likely be gone. We might as well check it out while we can." Faith argued. Jaden sighed.

"She's not wrong." He pointed out.

"Alright. There's a split in the hall ahead, we should probably split up." Bree suggested.

"Good idea." Miles nodded in agreement before leading the way towards the split Bree had mentioned. Just as she'd said, the tunnel split off in two different directions, one heading east and the other south.

"Faith, Kaz, Dani, Jaden, you guys come with me down this path, Chase, why don't you lead Jess, Bree, Skylar, and Oliver down that one?" Miles suggested. Chase nodded.

"Alright, comms on. If there's trouble, you call. Immediately." He ordered.

"Agreed." Bree nodded. We broke off and Dani, Jaden, Faith, and I started following Miles down one hall.

"You know, if it weren't so creepy, this place would actually be pretty cool." Jaden commented.

"Ollie would be freaking out right now." Dani chuckled to herself.

"Oh, he'd probably be afraid of a mummy coming to attack him." I joked.

"Are you guys always this...relaxed on missions?" Faith questioned, giving us all looks.

"Actually, yeah. It kinda works for us." I replied.

"Besides, I think we're in the wrong place. I don't think the others are here." Dani added.

"You don't?" Miles asked, sweeping his flashlight across the ground. Dani shook her head, running her hand along the dusty walls.

"This would be the ideal place, if the ceiling wasn't about to come down on us," she began. Faith interrupted her.

"I don't think it's actually about to come down." She assured Dani. Dani shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. It's still unsteady." She insisted. "Which means that no one in their right mind would use this as a base. I mean, if it can come crashing down at any moment, it's too much of a risk, especially when your goal is to keep prisoners long term."

"So, you think we should leave?" Jaden asked. Dani shook her head.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in the alien radiation thingy." Dani admitted.

"Alien artifact." Faith corrected.

"I prefer radiation thingy." Dani replied, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I want to see what that's all about, but I highly doubt that whoever took our friends has ever been here."

Suddenly, the room began to shake, as if some sort of earthquake had started. Faith and Miles drew their weapons, both spinning to face opposite directions.

"What was that?" Jaden demanded.

"I do not know." Miles raised his hand to his comm. "Chase, come in. Was that you guys?"

_ "Yeah, sorry." _  Chase replied instantly.  _"Bree accidently hit one of the beams, and it crumbled."_

"Damn it, Bree, are you trying to bring this whole place down on us?" I asked, teasing her.

_ "Oh, please. As if you haven't made mistakes on missions before." The  _ speedster retorted.

_ "Guys, enough." _  Skylar scolded.  _"Look, I don't think the others are here."_

"Yeah, agreed." Miles replied, nodding at Dani to acknowledge the points she'd made earlier. "Should we bail? I'm not sure this alien artifact is worth it if we all get buried alive in here."

"It is worth it. Whatever it is, it can help us against whoever this new threat is." Faith insisted. She gave Miles a look. "Director Bosetti wanted us to find the source of the radiation, or find the missing heroes. The heroes aren't here, so we need to find the alien artifact."

"I know that you're hoping for some new weapon, Faith, but it's not worth the risk. We can come back with a team more prepared for these conditions." Miles assured her. She sighed, not liking his plan, but choosing not to argue with him either.

_ "I'm with Miles." _  Jessica agreed.

_ "Anyone other than Faith have any objections?" _  Skylar questioned. When no one spoke up, she continued.  _"Then it's settled. Let's get out of here and start looking at which one of the other dead zones we should check out next."_

"C'mon." Miles gestured towards the exit with his head. Jaden pushed his way ahead of us, apparently eager to get out of the building now that he knew it could possibly collapse. We'd almost made it to where the two hallways crossed when Faith suddenly shouted in surprise.

"Something just touched my legs!" She cried, aiming her weapon at the darkness.

"I didn't see anything." Dani frowned, eyes narrowing as she tried to see what had startled her.

"I'm sure something was there." Faith frowned. Suddenly, she let out another surprised cry, and before anyone could stop her, she aimed her gun and pulled the trigger. The plasma blast from her weapon hit the nearby wall, and suddenly, the room began to shake much more violently than before. I heard someone, Miles maybe, shout to take cover, then saw the large crack forming in the ceiling. Then, it caved in.

** Xxx **

"Ow." I complained, wincing as I pushed a piece of cracked rock off my leg. To my surprise, I was surrounded by utter darkness, not able to see even a foot in front of my eyes. My comm set crackled in my ear, but I couldn't make out anything being said. "Guys?"

"Kaz?" Dani's voice, weak with relief, hit my ears. "Are you alright?"

"I think so." My leg hurt a fair bit, but by the feel of it, it was sprained at worst. "Where are you?"

"Next to you...maybe? I can't see." She replied. I frowned, then raised my hand and created a ball of fire in my palm. Sure enough, the light coming off of the small fireball was enough to reveal Dani standing a few feet away from me, hands on the wall. She turned around at the sudden light, relief all over her face. "Thank God!"

"Where are the others?" I questioned. She gestured at a wall of rocks across from me. It was then that I realized that we were trapped between the two walls and the debris from the collapsed ceiling. "Why do these things always happen to us?"

"Bad luck?" Dani shrugged, one hand reaching up to her comm. "No, he's okay, Chase." She said. Well, at least one of our comms were working. "I don't think his comm is working."

"I think it got busted when I got hit by the ceiling." I replied, reaching up to touch the tender spot where I'd been hit. It wasn't bleeding thankfully, but there was a sizable lump there. Awesome. I looked upwards, disappointed but not surprised to see that the ceiling that had collapsed had not been the roof, meaning that Dani and I couldn't exactly fly out of here. "Is everyone else alright?"

"Yeah. Miles and the others managed to avoid being hit, but we're stuck here, and Faith is stuck behind that. She said she's going to look around for another way out on her end." She gestured at one of the debris piles.

"So, what about us? I don't think either of us can blast our way out of here without taking the rest of the building down with us." I pointed out, pulling myself to my feet. My knee twinged in protest, but thankfully it didn't seem like I'd have any trouble walking...not that there was anyway to go, stuck as we were.

"Well..." Dani smirked, looking upwards. "That looks like a second floor to you, doesn't it?"

I followed her gaze. "There's got to be a staircase between the floors." I realized. She smiled.

"We just need to find it." She agreed. She pressed her hand to her comm again. "Chase, don't wait around for us. Kaz and I think we know a way out." She paused, listening, before rolling her eyes with her signature smile on her face. "Yes  _Dad_ , we will call if we need help."

She laughed a little at Chase's response, then turned back to me. "Ready for a little adventure?"

** Rani's POV **

"So how sure are we that the Incinerator is going to attack this location?" Alan questioned walking alongside me into the abandoned building.

_ "Fifty-fifty? I mean, that's why we sent the other half of the team to the other location. Geez, Alan, pay attention." _  Jordan laughed into the comms. She and Calla had set up their own mission command in our living room, and clearly the Normo girl was enjoying herself.

She was right though; there were two likely targets for the Incinerator, both of them in the form of buildings in the city that had been foreclosed. Alivia had led a team to the other location, leaving myself, Alan, and Melody to handle this location. We'd already been staked out here for two hours though, and I could understand why Alan was losing his patience.

"She'll show up eventually." Melody said patiently, shuffling through the deck of cards I'd had the sense to bring. He gave her a look. "Yes, I know that could be a while, but capturing her is worth it."

"I guess." Alan muttered. I smirked a little, listening to their banter. They'd been dating a couple of months now (though they tried to hide it from the group, everyone knew about it, just as everyone knew about Jordan's not-so-secret visits to the base whenever Alivia was gone), but I still couldn't figure it out. They couldn't be more different, with Alan being all aggressive and stubborn and...well, Alan, and Melody being so sweet, patient, and nice at time that it made me nauseous. It was a weird couple, though for some reason that seemed to work for them.

_ "Hey, guys? Jordan and I tapped into the cameras around your buildings, and Melody, you guys have company." _  Calla suddenly spoke up.

"Which way are they coming in?" Melody demanded, standing up.

_ "Back entrance, first floor. Be careful guys." _  Calla warned.

"Will do." I cracked my knuckles, eager for a chance to take the Incinerator out. Alan smirked.

"I have a plan." He told us, smiling.

** Kaz's POV **

"Hopefully this is the right way." Dani commented as we made our way through the old, cobwebbed hallway. We had just guessed which way would bring us to a staircase, assuming there even was a staircase that would bring us down to the same floor as our friends (who could tell with these creepy old tunnels), but we really had no way to be sure if we were going the right way.

"I'm sure it is. And if not, then we can just turn around." I offered.

"Yes, but if the staircase is on the other side, it's also trapped under a set of debris." She pointed out. Not wanting to admit that she could very well be right, I decided to change the topic.

"So, what do you think of this whole S.H.I.R.T. thing?" I asked curiously. She shook her head.

"I don't know. It kinda feels like the setup my mom had back when I was...back when she was free and trying to take over." Dani changed her sentence so as to not bring up her undercover mission again. "I don't really trust it, to be honest, but I'm not sure if that's just because my mom poisoned me against this kind of thing."

"I don't know either. I mean, on one hand, we know a number of the people that work there, and they're not criminals. I mean, did you know that Sienna is AJ's mom?" I asked. Dani's eyes widened.

"Oh my God, I thought she looked familiar." She smiled a little. "What does AJ think of all this? Does he even know?"

"Apparently, she told him after we all found out so that he wouldn't find it out from one of us." I explained. "Chase says he thinks it's the coolest thing in the world, his mom being a spy. Even if she is only an analyst. The kid's going to see if she can get him an internship or something there, since Bosetti's apparently her Dad or something."

"I didn't know what Bosetti's her dad. It kinda explains how she got into the business though." Dani hummed before giving me a look. "By the way, don't knock analysts. That's pretty much Calla's job until the baby comes."

"Oh, she can't hear me." I assured her, smiling. She glanced at me before continuing to run her hand along the wall, hoping that it would feel any turns in the hall that we would miss in the dim light.

"So, I saw you and Jess talking." She observed. I looked at her. "Don't worry, I didn't overhear anything. I just wanted to see if you were okay."

"Please, I'm always okay. I'm awesome." I insisted. She raised an eyebrow at that, not answering. "Seriously Dee, I'm okay."

"You sure? You guys were dating for a while. That was a gift for your six-month anniversary, right?" She asked, gesturing at the watch I was still wearing. I nodded.

"Yeah. I guess I should probably take it off, right?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I mean, you don't have to. It was a gift, right? And besides, maybe it'll help you be on time for once in your life." She teased. I gasped mockingly.

"Me? Late? Name one time." I retorted jokingly.

"Literally every day of school until I started making you come jogging with me in the morning." She replied, smirking.

"School was different. I didn't care about school." I pointed out. "Was I ever late to meet you for jogging?"

Dani considered it. "Fair enough." She agreed. She glanced at me. "But you're sure you're alright?"

"Yes, Dani." I promised her. "Besides, I think she was right."

"Right?" She asked, confused. I sighed.

"She said some things that I don't think I can argue. Things like we both had our secrets, and we want different things." I replied. Dani frowned.

"What sorts of things?" She asked, confused. I hesitated, trying to figure out how to answer that. The truth was, I wanted her. Dani had always taken up this weird part of my heart, one that didn't care about anything but having her by my side, in any capacity. But I didn't know if she was looking to get back together - she had been careful to steer as clear from that topic as possible since the day she'd come back to the penthouse - but I did know that I didn't want to lose her again.

"I think I might want to join the New League of Heroes." I said instead. Dani looked at me in surprise, eyes widening.

"What?" She demanded. I nodded, and she smiled in excited disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Well, yeah. Bree and Jaden were talking about taking a break from the team when you guys came back, and I don't think Calla and Chase are far behind them, not with little Challa Junior on the way." I explained. "And I know Oliver and Skylar are talking about a future together. This team isn't going to be around forever, and I'm serious about wanting to be a hero."

As I said it, it made more and more sense to me. The team was going to break up eventually, and chances were, it would probably be sooner rather than later. Being a hero was everything I'd ever wanted to be - it was what attracted me to comic books when I was a little kid - and if I joined the League, then I could continue saving lives alongside Dani. Even if we never got back together, even if that chapter of our lives together was over, we could still have each other in our lives. It could all work out in a way we'd both be happy with.

"I...wow." She didn't seem to know what else to say. I smiled.

"You think I should do it?" I asked. She laughed a little, still surprised by my confession.

"Yes!" She insisted. "I mean...if that's what you want." I couldn't see her face the best in this light, but I could practically hear her blushing at how quickly she had responded. "You should talk to Liv about it. She'd be thrilled to have you."

"I haven't decided yet, but I will definitely consider it." I agreed. I glanced at her, then started to add. "So, listen, I-"

Suddenly, the hall began to shake again. It wasn't as bad as before, but with the temple already unstable, the floor beneath us began to crack. I barely had the chance to let out a muttered curse before it collapsed beneath us.

"Oof!" I coughed as I landed on my back on top of the rubble, Dani landing directly on top of me. "God, you're heavy."

"Don't you know not to say that to a girl?" Dani retorted, lifting her head off my chest to look me square in the eye. She was so close that I could see the sparkle of amusement in her forest green eyes, the tiny specks of gold seeming to glitter in the dim light.

"Kaz, Dani?" Bree chose that moment to come running into the hall. She looked down at us, slightly amused. "Nice of you two to drop in."

"You're hilarious." I commented sarcastically as Dani slowly climbed off of me. Chase and the others came jogging up behind Bree. Chase offered me a hand up, giving me a sympathetic look.

"You guys alright?" Jaden asked, concerned.

"We're fine. Didn't I tell you guys to leave us behind, that we'd figure our own way out?" Dani questioned, surprised to see them.

"Did you really think we'd actually leave you guys in here alone?" Chase chided. "Of course we stayed. We've been trying to figure out how to get you guys out of there."

"Which apparently, you didn't need our help for." Skylar commented.

"Wait, where's Faith?" I asked, concerned.

"She's okay. Actually," Miles paused to listen to his comm. "Actually, she just got out herself. Whatever shook the temple there broke a crack in the side of it. She crawled out. She may be dirty and covered in sand, but she's okay."

"That's good." Dani agreed. She took a deep breath, then smiled at the others. "Think we can get out of here now? Because honestly, Ollie's not the only one afraid of mummies, and with the way our day is going, if we stick around, we're legit going to run into one."

Bree chuckled at that. "Let's get out of here." She agreed.

** Rani's POV **

"Well, well, well, look who it is." I sang, sauntering down the stairs to greet the Incinerator as she made it to the second floor. "It's Denise, right?"

"Incinerator." She corrected instantly. She looked at me appraisingly. "Rani Shore. I heard you're one of the most powerful witches of your age."

"Well, I don't want to brag, but...yeah." I put my hands in my pockets, cocking my head to look at her. "Been a while."

"I also heard you went and joined the heroes." She commented, glancing up as a bat flew past our heads and landed on the ceiling above her head.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't about to go to jail for Wrath. He was a horrible teacher, always gave me Bs instead As." I replied, shrugging.

"How rude of him." The Incinerator snarked. I smirked a little, amused by her sarcasm. "And what, you thought you could come here, and beat me? All by yourself? You really think you have that kind of power?" She laughed a little too herself as flames appeared around her wrists. "I think maybe the Bs were a little generous, don't you?"

"They would be, if I were that stupid." I admitted. "But really, what kind of idiot fights fire with fire? I'd much rather use something a bit colder, wouldn't you?"

Before she could question what I meant, Melody stepped back into the building, my distraction having given her the time to sneak out the front so that we could attack the Incinerator from both sides. Before the Incinerator even realized she was there, Melody raised her hand and a blast of ice burst towards the pyrokinetic criminal.

"You!" The Incinerator snapped, raising her hand just in time to protect her face from the ice crystals. Alan took that moment to reveal himself, shapeshifting from the bat above her into himself. No longer able to hold onto the ceiling like a bat, he fell directly onto his target, slamming her into the ground.

The sudden blow knocked the breath out of her lungs, but unfortunately for Alan, we'd all forgotten about her ability to breathe fire. The oxygen that rushed from her lungs came out in lungs, engulfing Alan's torso in the flames. Luckily, whatever material his uniform - a black shirt and a dark-blue sweater vest - was made out of was fire proof, but the sudden appearance of flames was enough to get the shapeshifter to roll out of harm's way.

The Incinerator recovered all too quickly, twisting around and climbing to her feet. Melody and I both went in for the attack at the same time, but she had anticipated that, one hand raising towards each of us to shoot a fireball at us. I dropped to my knees, avoiding it, while Melody spun around, barely sidestepping it before continuing with her attack. She blasted her enemy full of ice. The Incinerator, having expected that Melody would be incapacitated by her attack, stumbled back in pain and surprise, tripping right into me.

_ "Prohibere!"  _ I shouted, raising my hand at the Incinerator and concentrating my energies on her. Instantly, she stopped moving, a confused look coming across her face.

"Sorry, you were taking a little too long to freeze her, so I decided to do it myself." I teased Melody. She rolled her eyes and turned to the Incinerator.

"Time to take you back to prison." She declared proudly.

** Kaz's POV **

"Alright, thanks man." I hung up the phone, leaning against the kitchen counter just as Dani came walking out of Mission Command. "That was Oliver. He said that they caught the Incinerator. They're going to spend the night in the city, then come back in the morning."

"Oh, cool. Good for them." Dani smiled. She looked around. "Bree and Jaden already go home?"

"Yeah. They've got Jazz babysitting for them now because apparently we both suck at it, but she had a shift at Mighty Med." I explained. "Oh, and Oliver, Chase, and Skylar all went to bed. Said they had enough excitement for one day."

"They might have the right idea." Dani yawned. I nodded in agreement. "I'm heading to bed."

"Yeah, me too." I agreed. I followed her up the stairs, heading for our separate bathrooms. "So, I've got a question for you."

"Shoot." Dani replied, purposefully keeping her tone soft as we made our way onto the second floor.

"Did you know about Jordan?" I asked, smirking at her. She smiled playfully at me.

"Jordan who?" She asked in that fake, teasing tone.

"Oh, is that how you want to play it?" I challenged, grinning.

"Oh, that's how I want to play it." She replied. I smirked and suddenly, she backed away, knowing what was coming next. I lunged forward, trying to grab her hands, but she danced just out of my reached, heading for her bedroom door. I caught her first, grabbing hold of her wrist and pushing her up against my bedroom door. "Fine, fine. I knew about Jordan." She giggled softly. I chuckled, letting her go and stepping back.

We stood there for a moment, staring at each other, feeling like the same two sixteen-year-olds who used to sneak into the change rooms at Mighty Med just to sneak a kiss.

Then reality caught up with me and I stepped back. "I should let you get to bed."

"Uh, yeah." Dani nodded, glancing at her feet for a moment. She stepped to the side, getting out of my way.

"Good night." I mumbled as she walked past me. I heard her footsteps stop.

"Kaz?" She murmured after a moment. I turned around to see what she wanted, and suddenly, her hand was pulling me closer by the front of my shirt and her lips were crashing into mine with a hunger that I hadn't known she had. I kissed her back, savoring the taste of her lips against mine, one hand reaching up to her head to pull her closer, the other reaching around her waste to keep her close to me.

** Jazz's POV **

"Hey, since when did you take overnight shifts?" Kacy, the receptionist, asked as I walked into Mighty Med 2.0.

"Well, it's summer, so it's not like I have to get up early in the morning. Besides, my Dad's out on a date, and I hate staying home alone." I replied, taking a clipboard from her. She smiled at me sympathetically. "So, I miss anything good today?"

"Well, they brought in this cutie about an hour ago." Kacy jerked her thumb towards the ER. "I haven't seen him before, but he sure is a looker."

"You've only been working here for four months, Kacy. You don't know half the superheroes we deal with." I pointed out, though I was smiling at her description of the patient. "What happened to him? Supervillain attack?"

"No. Poor thing got hit by a car." She replied, shaking her head sadly. "He's lucky we've got people working at the Normo hospitals in case any of ours end up there instead of here. If they hadn't caught the fact that his DNA wasn't Normo, then he'd be in a Normo ER right now?"

"What are his injuries?" I asked, glancing at the chart. It currently read John Doe, but that was likely because the few doctors working tonight were both fairly new as well - with Horace preparing to open a second Mighty Med 2.0. in LA, he and Oliver had needed to bring in a lot of new faces so that they could start training under our trained doctors.

"A couple of broken ribs, concussion. Nothing major." Kacy replied. I nodded.

"Well, I'm going to go see if he's awake, try and put a real name on this chart." I decided, heading for the ER. It was mostly empty tonight, with not much going on in the superhero world at the moment. In fact, there was only one patient - our mysterious John Doe.

He was still unconscious, lying prone on one of the beds. But I didn't need him awake to know what his name was. This was hardly the first time I'd seen this hero, though he certainly wasn't who I was expecting to see.

I turned around and fished my cell phone out of my pocket. Hitting one of the speed dial buttons, I prayed he would answer the phone. After a moment, a drowsy voice picked up. "Jazz? Why are you...I'm not on call tonight."

"I know, Oliver, I just..." I glanced back at the unconscious hero. "We got a John Doe in here a couple of hours ago and I just came to check on him...Oliver, it's Spotlight."


	9. The Returned

**Dani's POV**

"Hey! Horace!" Kaz shouted as we ran through the doors to Mighty Med 2.0. Horace was already waiting for us, going through some files at the front desk.

"Room 23." He said before any of us could get another word out.

"Thanks." I pushed past the others, rushing towards the room in question in search for my teammate. None of us could believe. Liam, back? Alive and without any serious injuries? It seemed too good to be true. But sure enough, as soon we reached the room Horace had told us, we found our friend, lying unconscious in a hospital bed. Jazz was in there with him, checking things off a checklist.

"Oh my God." I whispered, not believing my eyes. "He's alive."

"He's lucky." Jazz added, looking up at us with a small smile. Chase looked at her.

"What happened to him?" He asked stiffly, eyes scanning the unconscious hero in search of injuries.

"Well, he got hit by a car up on Walkley. We're not sure of anything before that, but he's got a couple of broken bones and a concussion. Like I said, lucky." Jazz handed the clipboard over to Kaz. He looked it through, double-checking everything she'd told us.

"He's going to be fine, guys." He assured us before giving Jazz a grateful smile. "Thanks calling Oliver, Jazz. Really."

"Of course. I know how important he is to you guys." The fifteen-year-old replied. She glanced at Liam, then back at us. "But I should probably go. I have other duties."

"Of course. Nice job." Skylar patted her shoulder as she left. He glanced at us. "How the hell did he get hit by a car?"

"Well, I assume he walked in front of it." Jaden offered. Kaz gave him a look. "Hey, ask a dumb question, get a dumb answer."

"I think what Kaz meant was, how did he get in front of the car in the first place? I mean, how did he escape from whoever was holding him?" Bree questioned, his hand running Noah's thin hair as he slept against her chest. As soon as we'd gotten the call from Ollie, we'd called her and Jaden to meet us at the hospital.

"I guess we'll find out when he wakes up and tells us?" I offered, shrugging.

"We could be here a while then." Skylar pointed out. Chase nodded to himself.

"I'm going to go talk to Jazz, see what information we can get about where they found him. Just in case we need to check the location of the accident for details about whatever happened to him." He decided.

"Good idea. I'm going to get coffee." Jaden offered. "You guys want some?"

"Please." I nodded.

"I'll help." Kaz offered, following him and Liv out of the room. Skylar glanced at me.

"Hey, can we talk?" She asked, gesturing to the hallway. I nodded.

"Sure." I replied. She led me into the hall, just out of earshot of the others. "Is everything okay?"

"I don't know, is it? You never came back up to the bedroom." She mentioned. I froze, realizing I'd been caught. Kaz and I hadn't really talked earlier, not about us or what had happened, and after I'd woken up in his bed to the sound of Ollie's ringtone, I hadn't even paused to think about it.

"Uh, I couldn't sleep. After the temple thing, I just couldn't stop thinking about mummies, and I knew if I went to bed, I'd probably have nightmares or something, so I went down to Mission Command and played video games." I said, trying my best to sound apologetic. "I didn't mean to worry you or anything."

"You played video games on Calla's super computer?" Skylar raised an eyebrow. Before I could reply, she chuckled. "And here I was thinking that Bree, Jaden, and I were the only ones who used it for personal use when she wasn't looking. We watch Teen Fiancé marathons on it all the time."

"Jaden watches Teen Fiancé with you guys?" I asked, both surprised by that interesting bit on information and relieved to be able to change the topic so easily. Skylar nodded eagerly, smirking.

"Apparently Bree got him into it back in high school and now he's a bigger fan than we are." She admitted. We both laughed at that, amused by the older boy's surprising interest in reality love shows.

"Uh, guys?" Bree called loudly. "I think he's waking up."

Skylar and I exchanged looks before rushing into the room. Sure enough, Liam was starting to stir, his head rolling restlessly on the pillow. Just as I walked up to the hospital bed, his eyes fluttered open, briefly confused before they focused on me. I stopped in my steps, suddenly feeling uneasy. The look in his eyes was wary, almost...almost upset. But I didn't have much time to ponder on it, for the look was gone almost as quickly as it had come. He blinked, seeming to come back to himself, before offering me a thin smile.

"Hey." He greeted, his voice gravelly and weak.

"Hey sleepyhead. We've been waiting for you." I teased as Chase stepped into the room.

"We?" He repeated, looking around. I sat down on the bed, offering him a smile.

"Just me and the Elite Force for now, but Rani's on her way, I promise." I assured him with a smile. When he nodded tiredly, I smirked and added "Though she might not be too happy with you."

"I worried her?" He muttered. I didn't answer him verbally, but gave him a smirk that said 'well, no shit, Sherlock'. "I'll apologize to her when I see her."

"Good. The last thing we need around here is a little lover's quarrel." I mentioned just as Kaz and Jaden came back into the room, carrying trays of coffee.

"Hey, how're you feeling, man?" Kaz asked kindly, setting the tray down on a small table on the side of the room.

"Like I got hit by a bus." Liam admitted, sounding rather annoyed by the fact.

"Actually, according to Jazz, it was a mini-van." Chase mentioned. Liam groaned, dropping his head back onto the pillow and closing his eyes.

"I'm a freaking superhero and I got taken out by a soccer mom car?" He questioned.

"Looks like." I agreed. He cracked his eyes open to glance at me. "I promise I won't make fun of you...too much, that is."

"Gee, thanks." He retorted, closing his eyes again.

"Hey, no sleeping yet, man." Kaz tapped his shoulder. Liam groaned and opened his eyes, giving Kaz a death glare. "We need to know about the others."

That really got to Liam, because a moment later, he was trying to sit up. "Crap, the others. We have to save them." He hissed in pain as the sudden movement pulled at his wrapped ribs. I put my hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"No, you're in no condition to mount a rescue right now." I told him firmly. He ignored me, sitting up completely. "Hey! Seriously, lie back down."

"You are not in charge of me!" He snapped coldly, giving me a glare that I hadn't been expecting that.

"Alivia would say the same thing if she were here." Kaz told him. Liam sighed, looking away. "Besides, you can't do much injured."

"Well, we can't just let those bastards keep them locked away like they'd been doing." Liam growled.

"So let us help." Chase walked around the side of the bed so that Liam, now sitting next to me, could see him better. "Tell us what happened."

Liam didn't answer right away, instead glancing at me. "The League's working with the Elite Force. They've got friends missing too."

"Let me guess, bionic boy and blind girl?"

"Blind bionic girl, but yeah." Bree nodded. "Kieran and Taylor are from the Academy. You've seen them?"

"We were being held together in some facility." Liam explained. Jaden opened his mouth to ask a question, but Liam beat him to the punch. "Don't ask me where; I have no idea where we were being held, only that we were held in cells with power-nullifying bars and no windows to speak of, and that they gassed us with some sort of knock-out drug before moving us."

"They moved you?" Chase glanced sideways at Bree, brow furrowed in confusion. Liam nodded.

"A couple of times, whenever they thought that someone was close to finding us. I'm guessing that someone was you guys?" He guessed. I nodded in confirmation.

"How'd you escape?" Kaz asked the most obvious question. Liam gave us a little smirk.

"The drug never really worked all the way on us, but usually, when we woke up in the back of that truck, we'd have power-nullifying cuffs on." He began.

"And you didn't this time?" Bree guessed. Liam shook his head.

"Oh, we did. But this time, mine weren't working." Liam grinned.

"They weren't?" Skylar questioned, her tone suspicious. Liam shrugged.

"Well, they were at first. They short-circuited sometime on the drive. I felt my powers come back instantly, and attacked one of the guards."

"And then you what, bolted and left Lily, Kieran, and Taylor there?" I asked, a little confused. Liam would never just leave them there, especially not Lily.

"Of course not, Dani. I would never leave anyone in the hands of dangerous criminals." He gave me an incredulous look. "No, I had no intention of leaving anyone behind, but the guards fought back and I got thrown into the doors at the back of the truck. They must not have been completely secure, because the next thing I knew, I was hitting the asphalt hard and the truck was speeding away."

"And they just left you there?" Bree inquired. Liam shrugged.

"I guess. Maybe they thought that having three heroes in their grasp was better than risking grabbing a fourth in a public road after at least a dozen drivers saw them push him out of the back of their truck in handcuffs? I mean, there's no way they'd be able to get away with that." He theorized.

"Oh, they won't be getting away with anything." I promised him. He smiled, nodding in agreement. "Is that when you got hit by the car?"

"I...Maybe?" He guessed. He looked at us helplessly. "That's really the last thing I remember."

"Head trauma can sometimes cause short-term memory loss." Kaz supplied. "It's okay, man. We're just glad you're alright."

"Why did they take you in the first place, though? Why do they need you?" Jaden questioned. "And better question, who's they?"

"Well, I can't answer that last one - they were wearing these hockey masks. But they did interrogate us, or at least, me. I can't say for sure about the others." He looked up at Chase. "They were asking about some alien artifact that fell to Earth, like 15, 20 years ago."

"What artifact?" I questioned, confused. He shook his head, shrugging.

"I don't know. I just know that they used part of it to make their weapons, but that there was another part of it that they were missing, a part that they needed. I don't know why." He explained.

"If you don't know anything about it, why were did they think you did?" Kaz asked, confused.

"You know, I might have an idea about that." Chase mentioned, giving Bree and Jaden a sideways glance.

"Well, do you want to clue me in? Because..." He trailed off, looking past me before a small smile split onto his face. "Hey."

I turned to see Rani standing in the doorway. She looked disheveled, still wearing PJ pants and a purple sweater she'd probably pulled on in a hurry, looking just like we'd pulled her out of bed. But the look she was giving Liam, nervous, hopeful but apprehensive at the same time...and incredible vulnerable.

The last time I'd seen that look on anybody's face, it was that night at the Davenport Industries facility, when Kaz tried to convince me to come home after working with my mother for eight months. It was the look of someone whose heart had been broken before, and they were terrified of risking it again for something as dangerous as hope.

"Hey." Rani's voice was tight, her words forced around what sounded like a pretty big lump in her throat.

"We'll give you guys the room." I told her gently, motioning for the others to follow me into the hallway. Alivia, Ollie, and Calla were all waiting for us, concerned looks on their faces.

"Is he alright?" Alivia demanded as soon as Chase closed the door behind us.

"Concussion and three broken ribs. He won't be doing anything stupid and dangerous for a while, but he should be fine." Kaz assured.

"Well...I mean, it IS Liam. We're still going to have to stop him from doing stupid and dangerous things, injuries or not." I mentioned lightly. Alivia gave me a stern look but didn't comment on it.

"Did he say anything? How are the others?" Ollie demanded, crossing his arms.

"They're alive, as far as he remembers. He says they were moving them. I want to check out where he was hit by a car - there might be clues to where the vehicle." Chase decided. Alivia nodded.

"Good idea." She agreed. Bree looked at her.

"Hey, I don't suppose you know anything more about that Tamarack Lake Asteroid, do you?" She inquired. Alivia frowned.

"I told you everything I know. Why?" She asked, confused.

"According to Liam, they interrogated them about an alien artifact that fell to Earth about 15 to 20 years ago, that they use part of it in their weapons, but they're missing a part that they need." Chase explained. "Sound familiar?"

"They were using fragments from that meteorite in their weapons." Calla remembered. Alivia shook her head.

"The government has it, right? Not us." She reasoned, though she sounded uncertain about that.

"Are you sure? I've been thinking about that, and it doesn't make much sense to me." Jaden commented. "I mean, you mentioned that your father had files on it. If superheroes are supposed to be a secret, and the government did manage to get ahold of the meteorite after it crashed, how would anyone from the superhero world manage to make files on it?"

"A file. He had one file." Alivia corrected. "But, you might be right."

"It would explain why they interrogated Liam about it; if they think that the superhero world has control over it, whatever it is, then members of the New League of Heroes would be the most likely to know about it." Calla agreed.

"And everyone in the superhero world knows that bionic people have aligned themselves with superheroes, especially since Davenport Industries funded the creation of Mighty Med 2.0." I added.

"I guess. I don't know where I'd begin looking, though." Alivia frowned.

"Put Jordan on it. I'm sure she can find it." Kaz suggested. Alivia raised an eyebrow at our former classmate's name.

"Good idea." She agreed before glancing at me. "By the way, remind me to give you hell later for not telling me about her."

"Will do, boss." I agreed, smiling.

"But for now, what's the plan?" Calla questioned, looking at Chase.

"Well, somebody has to tell S.H.I.R.T. about Liam and our theory about the asteroid. Babe, you mind?" He asked. Calla nodded.

"Yeah, I can do that. Besides, AJ's interning there today, so I can check in with the kid and see if he'll do some snooping about the asteroid for us." She decided.

"You don't trust S.H.I.R.T.?" Alivia asked, surprised. Calla shrugged.

"They're a secret intelligence agency. I think they're on our side, but if by some chance the government did get ahold of the asteroid, I don't think they'll tell us." She reasoned.

"It's a good idea to get AJ involved, but keep in mind, his mother and grandfather work at S.H.I.R.T. Tread carefully." Chase warned.

"Don't I always?" Calla rolled her eyes, kissed him on the cheek, then started towards the exit.

"Is that a joke?" Chase called after her. We heard her laugh, but she didn't bother turning back. Chase watched her go, looking concerned.

"I'll go with her." Ollie offered, noticing the look as well. "Keep her out of trouble and all."

"Thank you." Chase told him sincerely. Oliver nodded at him before jogging after Calla. Chase turned back to us.

"As for the rest of us, I'd like to check out where Liam was hit by that car. There might be forensics that can tell us where the vehicle that he and the others were being moved in went, or other clues as to who took them."

"I can go back to Mission Command, see if I can help from a technological standpoint." Jaden offered. Chase nodded.

"Good idea." He agreed.

"Hey, can you...?" Bree trailed off, but Jaden knew what she meant, already reaching for his son. Noah let out a distressed sound at being pulled away from his mother, but Bree quickly shushed. "It's okay, Bug, Mommy's just going to go help a friend of hers, alright?"

"C'mon, buddy. You wanna help Daddy with work?" Jaden offered, trying to distract the eight-month-old.

"What about Liam?" Skylar asked, pointing at the closed door with her thumb.

"I think Rani's got him handled." Alivia smirked, amused.

**Rani's POV**

I let the door close behind me without saying a word, too busy taking in Liam's face to care about who was or who wasn't in the room. He looked the same. Well, a little bruised and beaten, but otherwise, it was my Liam.

"Rani-" He began after a long moment of silence.

"Are you really here?" I cut him off, unable to help myself. This could be a trick, God that would be so typical of my luck, to get him back just to have him torn away from me again.

"What does it look like?" He questioned in reply, giving me his signature smirk.

"No, don't play games. Not today." I warned him, clenching my fists to try and get them to stop shaking.

"Rani," he said calmly, his smirk turning into a more sincere smile, "it's me, I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

You'd think those words would be a relief to me. You'd think they'd make me feel better. Instead, the reality of it all - how long he'd been gone, how much I'd missed him, how he broke that last promise he made me - crashed down on my shoulders. I pressed a hand to my mouth in an effort to keep it in. Don't be emotional, don't show weakness. I'd learned pretty young that those were the kinds of things that got you hurt the most, especially in this world.

"C'mere." Liam held out an arm and I lunged at him, ducking my face into the crook of his neck as I tried to get a hold of myself. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Rani. I should have...I don't know what, but I should have done something."

I took another moment, breathing deeply and fighting to keep my emotions from taking hold. Then, finally, I managed, "You broke your promise."

Liam laughed a little, not having expected me to say that. "And which promise was that again?"

I pulled away, staring at him. Did he forget? How could he forget? "You promised you'd come home, that we'd finish talking about...well, you know." He tried to hide it, but he looked far too confused for him to genuinely remember. "You don't remember."

"No, I...Rani, I-" But I was already pulling away, moving to walk away. I mean just, wow. I put my heart out on the line there, and he didn't even remember?

"How could you not remember?" I demanded incredulously. He gave me a look, patient, but frustrated.

"In my defense, I have been held captive for five months and I did just get hit by a car. Kaz said it himself, head injuries tend to screw with the memory" He pointed out. I looked away.

"Right, sorry." I apologized, realizing that this was not the time. Regardless of whether or not he had truly forgotten that conversation or not (God knows how easy it would be for him to use amnesia as an excuse to get him out of a really awkward conversation, especially if I was right about only one of us being in love), I had to remember that this was not the time. He was hurt, he had just been through something terrible. It was not about me. "Are you okay?"

"It hurts." He admitted, rubbing his midsection with a grimace. But when he looked at me, there was a playful gleam in his eyes. "Maybe a kiss would make it better."

I raised an eyebrow at that and crossed my arms, earning a laugh from him. "It was worth a try."

"You're infuriating." I muttered.

"And you are gorgeous." He countered. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm in sweat pants, a tank top, and an old sweater." I pointed out.

"Gorgeous." He insisted. I bit my lip, trying not to give him the satisfaction of getting a smile out of me. "Look, I'm sorry I don't remember what we talked about. I really am, and I don't know why there are gaps in my memory like that. But do you want I do know?"

"Enlighten me." I replied. He smiled.

"I know that I'm here, that I love you, and that I'm not going anywhere without you ever again." He told me. I stared at him, taking in those words.

"Say that again." I whispered, needing to make sure I'd heard him correctly. He smiled.

"Which part?" He teased. I gave him a look. "The 'I love you' bit?"

"Yeah." I was smiling now, unable to stop myself. He smirked.

"I love you." He repeated. I looked down, trying to bite back the smile a bit. He cocked his head to the side, looking at me in vague amusement. "Do I get a kiss now?"

"You're relentless." I laughed, sitting down next to him.

"Oh, you love it." He teased, leaning forward to lock lips with me.

**AJ's POV**

"Hey, Jazz texted me. Is it true about Spotlight?" I demanded, meeting Calla and Oliver at the entrance to the secret, underground facility that my mother and grandfather worked at.

"I didn't know you had Jazz's number." Oliver frowned. I shrugged.

"She wanted my help setting her up with one of the guys at the Academy." I explained. I looked at Calla, eyes wide. "So? Is it true? Is he back?"

"He's back, and he's going to be okay." She assured me. I smiled.

"Any word about Kieran, Taylor, or Scarlet Ace?" I inquired hopefully. She gave me a thin smile and shook her head. "I'm sure we'll find them. I mean, now that we're working with S.H.I.R.T..."

"Yeah, how's that going, by the way?" Oliver interjected. I shrugged.

"Well, I mean, it's really cool that my mom works here, and even cooler that my grandfather runs the place. And I love that my mom got me an internship here, but I'm not really doing anything but getting coffee." I admitted, sighing. Calla looked at me appraisingly, so I quickly added, "I mean, it's totally worth it. I'm sorry I left Davenport Industries, but c'mon, what other fourteen-year-old can say that he works for a secret government organization?"

"Hey, AJ? How well do you know your grandfather? I mean, you've never even mentioned him before, let alone S.H.I.R.T." Calla mentioned.

"Not well. Mom and he...I don't know what happened, but she never talked about him. I only met him last January, a couple of months after we moved to Philadelphia." I told her.

I felt my stomach twist a bit at those words and I wondered if I should tell Calla the whole story. Not that I really knew the whole story myself. Mom had been very careful to keep me out of the most of it for now, but what I did know...well, I thought maybe I should tell someone about it. Something was just wrong there, the way those two had re-entered me and my mom's lives seemingly overnight, without much of an explanation other than that it was a 'family secret'. I wasn't sure whether to trust them, but Mom had insisted that what was going on was alright, and that everything was going to be okay. Part of me thought that I should tell the team about it, but a larger part of me trusted that my mom wasn't going to do anything to hurt me or any of my friends.

If Calla noticed my hesitation, she didn't mention it. "Hey, pal, you think you can do me a favor?" She inquired instead, giving me an encouraging smile.

"Depends." I frowned, wondering where this was going. She put her hand on my shoulder, still smiling.

"You ever hear about the Tamarack Lake Asteroid?" She asked. I shook my head and her smile grew a little. "See what you can find out about it? There's a discount at the Davenport Industries gift shop in it for you."

I grinned. "Sure." It seemed harmless enough.

"That a boy." She smiled back, pleased with my answer. She raised her head a moment later, eyes looking past me at someone approaching. "Agent DeCook, hello."

"For the last time, there's no need for that agent stuff. I'm dating your cousin, you can call me Miles." He told her good-naturedly as he walked up to us. "Speaking of whom, she's left you about a hundred voicemails." He was wearing a black

"It was six, not a hundred, and I was busy." Calla defended herself. Miles gave Calla a look. "I'm not mad at her, alright? Look, I'll talk to her later, I promise, but right now, we have business to discuss."

Miles frowned. "Why? Did something happen in New York?"

"No, but something happened in Centium City." Oliver told him, his tone serious. Miles took one look at the expressions on their faces, then nodded.

"Let's go find Graham and Director Bosetti, shall we?" She decided.

**Dani's POV**

"This is definitely the place." Skylar decided as we walked across the asphalt. Bree and Chase were at opposite ends of the normally very busy road, setting up road blocks with the help of a few of our friends in the police department, trying to keep the area as undisturbed as possible as we conducted our investigation. Even if they hadn't confirmed that this was where Liam had been hit by the mini-van, one look at the skid marks on the ground could tell you that something had happened here. "Alright, so what are we looking for?"

"Anything that tells us about the car that took our team, I guess." Kaz shrugged.

"Jaden's checking security footage, but there aren't any cameras in the immediate area, so that's a longshot at best." Alivia decided. "That means we need to try and find clues. Anything that's helpful - so that means paint chips, skid marks that show us the direction they were heading, stuff like that."

"How are paint chips supposed to help us find the car?" I asked. Alivia gave me a look.

"There are databases that can track the car's manufacturer, Dani. Haven't you ever seen CSI?" She questioned.

"I didn't know you had." I countered. She shrugged.

"Morgan's hot." She said by way of explanation. "Sue me."

"Probably not, but I do have an idea of what we will do." Kaz mentioned. He gestured across the street, towards a few local restaurants, looking particularly at the 24-hour KFC. "What do you think the odds are that someone working in one of those restaurants saw what happened?"

"You wanna talk to them?" Skylar guessed. Kaz nodded.

"Sure." He looked at me, then nodded his head towards the restaurants. "Help me?"

"Sure." I agreed and began to follow him towards the restaurants. We crossed the road and started across the parking lot towards the KFC, but before we reached the doors, he pulled me off to the side.

"So..." He gave me a wide smile. "Tonight was fun. You know, aside from Liam, but that's...I mean..."

I chuckled a little at that. "I think you mean last night - it's nearly three in the morning now. And yeah, it was fun."

Kaz looked at me closely. "So...? What does this mean for us?"

"As in, are we back together?" I asked. I laughed nervously, running my hand through my hair. "Honestly, I hadn't thought that far ahead yet. That was just..."

"Impulsive? Spur of the moment?" Kaz offered. I nodded, and he smiled. "Yeah, that sounds like us."

"Do you even want to get back together?" I asked. Kaz frowned.

"Don't you?" He asked, his tone soft and uncertain.

"Of course I do." I grabbed his hand, looking at him sincerely. "God, breaking us up, that was the worst thing I've ever done. But you just broke up with Jessica, and I wasn't sure if you were looking for a relationship."

"What did you think last night, a post-break up hook-up?" He asked rhetorically. When I didn't answer, he gave me a smile. "Dani, I never got over you. When you were gone, it was easy to pretend, but ever since you've been back, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

"I know the feeling." I bit my lip, blushing a little. I'd be lying if I said that I hadn't been thinking about him non-stop, since even before Liam and Lily had gone missing. "So, we get back together?"

"I'm game." He agreed, leaning forward to kiss me. I let his lips brush against mine briefly before pulling back.

"We'll have plenty of time for that after we find the others." I reminded him. He rolled his eyes.

"Alright," he agreed, semi-reluctantly. "But as soon as they're back, I'm gonna rock your world."

"You better." I teased lightly.

**AJ's POV**

So technically, I wasn't supposed to be listening in on their private meeting, but I just couldn't help myself; I wanted to know more. So I found myself sitting against the wall that separated a storage room and the conference room that the others were in, staying absolutely quiet as I eavesdropped on them. It was surprisingly easy to hear them through the wall, though I knew that if anyone walked in here I would be busted.

"So, they're being transported through Centium City?" Jessica sounded confused. I could hear the sounds of footsteps - someone was pacing across the room, either Miles or my grandfather, judging by the heaviness in the steps.

"Yes, but we have no idea where they're going, or where they came from." Oliver replied.

"That's not the point. What are the odds that they were being transported across this city? Of all cities? I mean, Liam and Lily were taken from New York and Kieran and Taylor from California. There's no reason why they'd be in the city." Jessica continued, sounding very thoughtful. "I mean, that can't be a coincidence."

"Jessica is right." Miles agreed, and the pacing stopped. "Why are they in Centium City?"

"I don't think that should be our priority." Arthur insisted.

"Why not?" Jessica asked quickly. "Figuring out their motives might help us figure out how to beat them."

"Unlikely. Whoever took the heroes have weapons and/or abilities, and neither of those need motives to be used." Faith declared, the sounds of her boots clicking on the ground as she walked into the conference room. "As far as I'm concerned, motive is only useful in court proceedings and sentencing. And we'll have plenty of time to figure all that out between their capture and their imprisonment."

"Where were you?" Miles questioned sharply.

"Working?" Faith reasoned.

"This early in the morning?" My mom questioned, speaking up for the first time during the meeting.

"I sent her on an assignment. I wasn't aware it would take go this long into the night." That was Agent Graham. "I agree with Agent Parker though; the motive is irrelevant at this point."

"Not if it hints at what they might do next." Miles argued, still siding with Jessica.

"Actually, we have an idea about that. Liam said they were interrogated about some sort of material. An alien artifact that they were desperate to get their hands on." Calla explained.

"Any idea what?" Faith questioned. There was a brief pause, then Calla answered.

"No idea. Liam's not sure. They weren't very clear when talking to him, and he suffered a head injury after his escape. His memory is a little off." She explained. I frowned. Did this have anything to do with the asteroid Calla was asking about? And if so, why wasn't she or Oliver telling my grandfather and the rest of the team about it?

"I'm sorry to hear that." Grandfather told her. "Hopefully his memory will return soon, but we should act as if it will not. What are you doing to locate the truck in which they were being moved?"

"The others are investigating the accident site, but we're not sure what they can get from it." Oliver explained.

"Send everything you've got to my lab. I'll analyze it, see what I can get you." Faith offered.

"Thanks, cuz." Calla told her. "But for now, do you think I can get access to any of your satellites? I'm thinking of using them to see if I can locate the truck, seeing as there are no security cameras, but the Davenport Industries one isn't in a good position to do so."

"I'm not sure ours are either, but you're welcome to check." Mom told her.

"Thanks." Calla replied. She paused again before continuing. "I don't suppose you know what that artifact is that they're looking for?"

"No idea." Miles replied. "But if we figure it out, we'll let you know."

"We appreciate it." Oliver replied.

"Keep us up to date on Mr. Bennett's condition. Agent Parker, if you would help Mrs. Davenport with the satellites, that'd be appreciated." Grandfather instructed. Neither Calla, Jessica, nor Oliver verbally responded, but I heard the sounds of disappearing footsteps, so I assumed that they must have left.

"Can I talk to you?" I heard Miles say to someone. I couldn't be sure who he said it to though, as there was no reply. A moment later though, my mom spoke up.

"He was hit by a car?" I heard her questioned.

"There was no serious harm done." Graham reminded her.

"I wasn't talking to you, Graham." Judging by her tone, my mother liked Agent Graham about as much as the Elite Force did. "Dad, can we speak in your office?"

"Of course, Sienna." He replied. I heard them leave, then decided that I should probably go to. I didn't know why everyone was being so secretive, but I knew where I should start looking: The Tamarack Lake Asteroid.

**Rani's POV**

"All they had were orange-flavored. Someone should talk to Horace, get more of a variety of food he-what do you think you're doing?" I demanded. I'd just come back to Liam's room after he sent me on Jell-O run, only to find him attempting to pull his shirt over his head.

Liam froze when he heard me approach, twisting around at the sound of my voice. That proved to be a mistake, because he let out a gasp and nearly dropped to his knees. I dropped the Jell-O cup and rushed to him, grabbing his arm to steady him before he could fall completely. "Idiot." I muttered, pushing him back onto the bed. "You just got hit by a car."

"It didn't hit me that hard." He muttered. "She was driving pretty slow."

"She?" I frowned. Liam looked up, then gave me a thin smile.

"I think it was a lady who hit me. You know what they say about women drivers, after all." I gave him a look. "Not funny?"

"Not really. And it doesn't matter how hard she did or didn't hit you; you're still hurt, dummy." I reminded him, backing up and crossing my arms. "What were you doing?"

He finished adjusting his shirt, a grimace painted on his face. "We need to find the others, and I had an idea about that."

"Yeah? And you couldn't wait to tell me until I got back?" I questioned.

"I knew you wouldn't let me help." He reasoned.

"Damn straight I wouldn't!" I snapped. He sighed and looked at me in silent annoyance. "No, you don't get to look at me like that. I just got you back, I'm not going to lose you just because you don't trust the rest of our team to do the job right. And speaking of which, since when are you the one with trust issues?"

"It's not a matter of trust, Nyx. I just...I shouldn't have just left them there." He blurted out. I sighed, starting to understand where this was coming from. "I should have figure out a way for us all to escape."

"There was nothing you could do." I told him, sitting down and taking his hand. I gave him a smile. "You tried your best, things went wrong. Not your fault. Lily would tell you the same thing if she were here."

"I can't just sit here." Liam insisted. I looked away from him, trying to think of a way he could help without putting himself in danger again.

"You said you had an idea about how we could find the others?" I mentioned, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Oh, I hope that's true." We both looked up to see Alivia standing in the hallway, hands in her pockets. She gave Liam a smile. "Hey Liam, how're you doing?"

"Ready to get back out there, boss." He replied instantly. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head at him. God, he was stubborn.

"Glad to hear it. That being said, you're going to have to get Horace, Kaz, Oliver, or Dani to clear you medically before I let you back out there." She told him. He opened his mouth to object, but she beat him to it. "No point in arguing, my mind is made up."

"I guess I will talk to one of them." Liam sighed. I flashed Alivia a smile, pleased to see that I wasn't the only one who agreed that he should hang back for a little bit.

"So, how'd it go at the accident site?" I inquired. She shrugged.

"Kaz and Dani struck out with eye witnesses. We managed to get some forensic evidence, but it all led back to a stolen vehicle from downtown."

"The car that hit you was a stolen vehicle?" I frowned, looking at Liam.

"Guess that explains why they didn't stop." He grumbled. He looked at Alivia. "So we have no way to track the truck that Lily and the others are in?"

"No." Alivia bit her lip, clearly upset with the situation. I hadn't even considered how she might feel, seeing me with Liam, happy, together, while her girlfriend was still missing and in danger. It must be killing her... "So," Alivia seemed to shake herself out of her thoughts, "you said you had an idea?"

"Yeah. I think, if we can't find the truck, we should focus on the artifact they were looking for. I mean, obviously, they're desperate to find it; why else would they kidnap and interrogate us about it for months?"

"You want to get to it first." I realized. He nodded eagerly.

"Not only will it give us a hint at what they're planning, but we could also use it to lay a trap." He continued. Alivia nodded thoughtfully.

"That's actually not a bad idea." She admitted. Liam smiled. "Um, okay. Yeah, I think the others will agree to that. Calla's already got a source working on it, but Rani, do you think you can find a spell in your spellbook that can track alien artifacts? Between S.H.I.R.T.'s resources, Calla's sources, and your magic, I'm sure we can narrow it down to the right artifact."

"There should be a spell in Dr. Wrath's book that will tell you how to find it, right?" Liam confirmed, looking at me. I nodded.

"There should. It's back at the Penthouse though..." I trailed off, wondering if I could convince her to go get it for me.

"For God's sake." Liam chuckled. He looked past me at Alivia. "I know I'm mission-cleared, but am I allowed to go back to the Elite Force's base to help Rani with that?""

Alivia looked like she was trying not to laugh. "Go." She allowed.

**Xxx**

"Okay, so the satellites are useless." Calla announced, walking into the Penthouse with Oliver at her heels. She dropped onto the couch, leaning back into the cushions with a groan. "God, my back hurts."

"Why are the satellites useless?" Jaden asked, grabbing a couple of plates from the cupboard and piling what was left of the Chinese take-out we'd ordered onto them. He walked into the living room, handing a plate to Calla and Oliver each.

"Bad angles. The entire road is blocked from view by the surrounding buildings." Oliver explained before thanking Jaden for the food.

"Great, so there's no way to find the truck after all?" Chase questioned, frustrated.

"Unfortunately no." Calla sighed. She looked around at us desperately. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"We're going to find that artifact of theirs." I announced, placing my spellbook down. Calla and Oliver looked at me, surprised. "We're going to find it, and lure them into a trap with it."

"That's brilliant." Oliver realized, smiling despite his surprise.

"I do come up with the occasional good plan." Liam reasoned from where he was lying on the couch next to me.

"Sorry if we sound so surprised, Spotlight." Alivia put her hand on his shoulder. "We're just used to you supporting Rani's devious plans, not the other way around."

Liam didn't respond to that, just glanced at Calla. "By the way, I'm not sure if I said anything before, but congrats on the baby." He mentioned, changing the topic.

"Oh, thank you." Calla smiled, one hand rubbing her swollen belly. It seemed to be growing larger and larger every day, making her look as if she'd recently swallowed a basketball. Chase smiled proudly, sitting down next to his wife.

"Hey, when are you due again?" I inquired, counting the days we'd been here in my head. It had to be due soon, right? I mean, we'd already been here for nearly four and half months now.

"August 1st." Chase replied, beaming down at Calla.

"Alright, so we're going to track down the artifact and trick whoever took you and the others into coming for it? Do we have a plan for that?" Oliver inquired.

"Technology." "Magic." Calla and I responded at the same time. We both looked at each other sharply, offended that the other would think theirs would work better.

"I've been going through Dr. Wrath's spellbook to try and see if there's a tracking spell. His magic is darker than I'd like, but there've got to be some spells in here that'll work."

"What do you mean, darker?" Bree questioned suspiciously. I flipped through the book to a few of the pages that I'd marked with an X in the corner.

"To Destroy the Indestructible, To Control Your Enemies, To Raise the Dead, etcetera etcetera." I read through some of the spell titles before looking back up from the book. I moved my hand to pet Katy, Dani's cat, who had lied down on the arm of the couch. "These are the types of spells that require more than pure energy to cast. They require sacrifices, and Alivia's being a prude and saying I can't use those spells."

"Yes, because not wanting you to commit murder is 'being a prude'." Chase declared sarcastically.

"I didn't mean people. But, I mean, there are dogs, cats, those ducklings we have back in New York. Animals work just as well." I reasoned, eyeing Dani. Her eyes widened at the implications.

"Katy!" She called, reacting the way I knew she would. The cat bolted away from, charging at her owner, who scooped her up and held the grey and white cat close to her chest.

"I was kidding, geez." I rolled my eyes at the looks everyone was giving me. Dani stared at me for a moment, then tilted Katy's face upwards.

"You are sleeping with me tonight." She told the cat. She yawned. "Is anyone else tired? I don't think I got more than a couple of hours of sleep."

"I don't think any of us did." Kaz mentioned. "Hey, MISS? What time is it?"

"5:09 AM." The AI's response was met by a series of groans in complaint.

"Screw it, I'm crashing." Skylar muttered, heading for the stairs.

"I'm with her." Dani agreed. She glanced at Kaz, who muttered his agreement.

"I want a coffee so bad right now." Calla whimpered. She looked down at her stomach. "Sweetheart, I love you, but can you come out just a little early so Momma can hit up a Starbucks?" After a moment, she let out a surprised laugh, her hand moving across her stomach. "Oh my God, she kicked at the word Starbucks."

"Not even out of the womb yet, and your kid wants a coffee. Yeah, that tracks." Jaden shook his head. He glanced at Bree, who was soothing a stirring Noah in her arms. "Should we go?"

"Yeah. We'll be back in a few hours, after we get some sleep." Bree agreed.

"I think that's what the rest of us are going to do too." Chase agreed.

"I'm going to stay up, actually. Work on these." I mentioned, holding up the book.

"And I think I've slept enough for one day." Liam added. He looked at me. "Need some help with the spellbooks?"

"Yeah, actually. You mind grabbing me some notebooks from downstairs? I want to write down the ones I need to memorize." I suggested.

"Sure." He agreed, gingerly pushing himself off the couch. He paused, looking around. MISS opened the doors to Mission Command for him and he gave me a smirk before heading down to the basement level.

"Hey, Oliver?" I called, stopping him from heading upstairs with the others. "Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, sure. What's up?" The cryokinetic asked, crossing his arms and biting back a yawn.

"Uh, Liam's probably going to ask you to clear him for missions, since Liv won't let him go on any without getting medically cleared. I was wondering if you could hold off for a while?"

"Well, I wasn't about to clear him right away anyway. At least not until his ribs start healing and the concussion is gone." Oliver assured me. "Was that what you were worried about?"

"I...maybe." I shrugged. "He's just...something feels...not wrong, but..."

"What are you trying to say, Rani?" Oliver asked, confused.

"Honestly, I have no idea." I admitted, sighing. "I mean, this is perfect. He's back and he...and he's been perfect and loving and he's acting like his old self, but at the same time, there's something off about it, you know?"

"No, I don't." Oliver admitted. I sighed.

"It just seems all too good to be true. Maybe it's just me, but just to be sure, can you...?" I trailed off, hoping he'd get my meaning. Thankfully, he nodded.

"Alright, sure. But if he's mission ready and we get a lead on the others, I have to tell him he can go. But anything less I'll tell him to stay back until we know he's alright." He told me. I nodded.

"Fair enough." I agreed. He nodded and headed off to bed. I sighed and sat back on the couch, trying to shake the feeling. It had been bugging me for a couple of hours now, and I just couldn't ignore it. Maybe it WAS me - I had trust issues, I knew that, and trusting that something like this was real and good, that was hard for me, so maybe it was all in my head. But I just couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was not right here.

**AJ's POV**

"What's down here?" I wondered, slipping into the dark underground hallway. Between all the lies and all the secrets that everyone was keeping from each other, I'd decided to take things into my own hands. Sure, I had still set my computer to search through S.H.I.R.T.'s files for any mention of that Asteroid, but while the search was in progress, I'd decided to start snooping for the truth on my own. And that started with S.H.I.R.T.'s base. After accidently finding the Elite Force's mission command a few years ago by tracking their energy use, I'd gotten into the habit of scanning for energy use in all locations the team had been investigating. And when I'd scanned S.H.I.R.T.'s energy use, I hadn't surprised to find that there was a secret area of the base. At the time, I had guessed that it was a secret lab or something, like the Elite Force's (Faith would just love to have one, of that I was sure), but now that I was down here, I wasn't so sure.

The hallway was dark and dimly lit, with the faint odor of mold in the air. For a moment, I wondered if they had just sectioned this area off and had forgotten about it (after all, I only managed to get into here through a hidden entrance in the tunnels), but then I saw the light at the end of the hall and decided to investigate.

I slowly approached the light, mindful that if I got caught down here, I was going to be in huge trouble. That's why, when I saw the two agents playing cards in front of a heavy-looking door, I hid.

What was behind that door? What were they guarding? Well, I was going to find out, for surely it had to be important.

I waited in my hiding spot for a long while, waiting for my opportunity to sneak in. Finally, one of the agents left the game, perhaps heading for a bathroom break. I waited another moment, then quietly unlatched my watch. Craning my neck to make sure that the guard couldn't see me, I tightened my grip on the watch, then threw it down the hall with all my might. The watch hit the ground hard, clattering loudly against the metal tiles.

That certainly got his attention, because another moment later I was forced to press myself even closer to the wall. The guard passed me by on his way to investigate the noise, unaware that I was hiding in the darkness. As soon as he passed, I slipped into the hall and raced for the door he'd been guarding. I slipped inside without a word, stepping into the dimly lit room without him noticing.

This room much different than I expected, with a small pathway leading between four cells made of glowing, blue, power-nullifying bars. While that alone should have surprised me, the more shocking part was that I wasn't alone in the room either.

"AJ? AJ Henig?" Kieran Daniels, one of the bionic heroes who'd gone missing, stood up, revealing his presence in the closest cell on my left. Across from him was his girlfriend, Taylor Krane.

"Wait, as in Calla's assistant, AJ?" She questioned, slowly getting to her feet. I noticed that she wasn't wearing her cool, high-tech glasses that she normally did. In fact, she was simply wearing a light grey tank top and grey sweatpants. Lily wore the same, sitting on the ground in the cell behind Taylors.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded even as she smiled. Another voice, coming from the cell behind Kieran, spoke up before I could reply.

"Isn't it obvious, Lils? He's here to break us out." Shocked, I made my way towards the source of the voice. Liam Bennett smirked back at me, amused by my shocked expression. "I'm right, aren't I? The Elite Force sent you in for recon?'

"Spotlight?" I demanded, staring at him, my mind racing.

"The one and only." He replied. I shook my head slowly.

"No. Not really." I murmured, reeling from this news. This didn't make sense. If Liam was here, then who was with the Elite Force right now?

I'd started to back up, knowing that running back to Chase and the others was the best thing I could do right now, when another voice spoke up. "You're not supposed to be down here."


	10. The Truth

** Rani's POV **

"So, what have we got?" Chase questioned, pacing in front of the cyber table.

"Well, I've created an algorithm that can differentiate between regular radiation waves and the kind that come from extraterrestrial types of radiation." Calla announced, waving her hand towards a few charts and several long numbers on it. I didn't understand it at all, but Chase looked impressed when he looked it over, so it must have been really good. "It won't work on a world-wide scale, but give me a location, and I can decipher whether or not it's worth looking at for this artifact of theirs."

"And what about the magic side of things?" Alivia turned to me expectantly. I sighed.

"I found a spell that pretty much does the same thing. It won't work on big scale, but I can work with a 10-mile radius."

"That's great and all, but the world's a pretty big place. Centium City alone is massive." Skylar pointed out. "Isn't there a better way to do this?"

"My tech is limited by scope." Calla replied apologetically before looking at me. "You?"

"I've got a couple of spells, but they either require a black magic sacrifice or actually having a piece of the artifact in question." I explained.

"Well, we can't just pick and guess." Liam insisted, leaning on the cyber table. "Is there a better way to find it, outside of tech or magic? We're running out of time, and we don't even know if either of those ideas will even work."

"You doubt me?" I questioned, looking at him. He gave me a look.

"Of course not. But magic is unreliable at times, you know that." He pointed out. I leaned back in my chair, not wanting to admit that he was right.

"Wait, does the algorithm have to be used from here, or can we put it on devices?" Alivia suggested, looking at Calla. Calla smiled.

"I can make something portable for them." She agreed before narrowing her eyes at the redhead. "What's the plan?"

"Why don't we split into teams and start working our way out from the city? It'll be slow, but it'll still be faster than doing it from here." The Irish hero suggested. Bree nodded in agreement.

"That sounds good." She agreed.

"Great, let's go." Liam agreed. Alivia raised her hand to stop him.

"You're not going." She announced.

"C'mon, Liv. I'm ready to go." Liam insisted.

"You're not medically cleared yet." Alivia insisted. Liam looked at Kaz and the twins desperately, but none of them would meet his gaze, all of them having agreed to keep him back for a few more days."

"I need to be a part of this." Liam argued.

"And you can, from back here." Calla offered him a smile. "I don't have time to watch Noah and work on this."

"You want me to babysit?!" Liam demanded.

"Hey, blame AJ. He's not answering his phone, and Jazz can't babysit because she's on shift." Jaden reasoned. Liam scowled, but didn't argue further, knowing that it would be a waste of time.

"Now that that's settled. Rani, you come with me, we'll start west of the city. Dani-" Alivia began.

"I'll take Kaz." The electrokinetic offered, trying to look bored as she said it. Something was going on between those two, I could tell. Something had been different since we got back to Centium City, but with everything going on, I hadn't had the chance to ask about it yet.

"You guys go east then. Bree, Jaden and I will go North, Oliver and Skylar, go south." Chase decided.

"You guys go get ready, I'll upload the algorithm into some handheld devices for you." Calla offered, pushing her out of her seat and heading towards the equipment room. The others began to disperse but I stayed where I was and turned to Liam. "Will you be okay?" I asked. He glanced over at Noah, who was lying on a blanket near the cyber table, smacking his hand against a blue plastic block.

"Babysitting, yay." Liam replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

** Xxx **

"Alright, let's move a little more south east, see if we can find something there." I announced when my spell came back with nothing. "Good idea?"

Alivia nodded silently, a thoughtful look on her face. I sighed, leading her down the sidewalk as we neared the edge of the city. After a few more minutes of silent walking through the city, I sighed. "We'll find her, Geminus."

"I know. I'm fine." She insisted. I stopped and gave her a look. "I am."

"I believe you." I lied, rolling my eyes.

"I am fine." She snapped at me, pushing past me. I jogged to keep up with her, staying close.

"Okay, sure. But we will find her, and the bionic duo too. And then you and Lily can go take a vacation somewhere. God knows you've earned it." I promised her. She glanced at me and gave me a smile.

"Is that what you and Liam are going to do?" She asked. I hesitated, then shrugged. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I assured her.

"Don't lie to me." She told me simply, her tone not quite accusing me of anything, but definitely leaving no room for argument.

"I just...it's hard to explain." I tried to brush it off, but Alivia wasn't having it.

"Try." She encouraged, turning down another road. When I didn't reply right away, she continued, her tone gentler this time. "Did you guys talk about the 'I love you' thing? If he didn't say it back, Rani, you have to remember, you're the first serious girlfriend he's had; he's probably scared or something."

"No, actually he did say he loved me." She frowned at that.

"Then what's the problem?" She asked, confused. "That's a good thing, right? You guys are good?"

"We're great, actually. Perfect." I replied. "But...perfect, that's not who we are. It's not who I am, so how can things be perfect? It just feels wrong. Like it's too good to be true."

"Rani," she gave me this sad look. "You do know that sometimes people get their happy endings, right? Even you."

"That's not it." I shook my head. "There's just something off about him."

"He's been through a lot. Has he talked to you about what happened?" She asked. I shook my head.

"There hasn't been time." I reasoned. "But I just can't shake this feeling."

Alivia looked at me, considering what I'd said. "Keep an eye on him." She said eventually. "If he keeps acting off, we'll revisit the issue. But give him a chance first, alright?"

"Alright." I agreed. She smiled at me.

"Chin up. It's probably all in your head." She reasoned. I nodded, hoping she was right.

** AJ's POV **

I bounced my knee anxiously, eyeing the two agents that were watching over me with a nervous hole in my stomach. I knew that I was shaking, but try as I might, I just couldn't stop it.

Not until the door to the conference room opened up and my mom came in, almost jogging to my side. She knelt down in front of me as my grandfather and Agent Graham walked in. "Are you okay, baby?" Mom demanded, ignoring them as she reached up to run her hand through my curly hair. I didn't answer her, couldn't answer her, so I just stared.

"I found him in the underground containment facilities." Graham explained.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Mom snapped at him before turning back to me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. What's going on, Mom?" I whispered, not understanding. "Why were they down there? And if Spotlight's down there, who is with the Elite Force?"

"It's a long story, honey." Mom told me.

"And I want to hear it." I argued, ticked off. She'd always been protective of me, and I had the feeling that this wasn't a situation mothers typically wanted their kids involved in, but the Elite Force were my friends. And those people they were holding against their will in their underground cells? They were my friends too. "I deserve answers!"

"Answers about what?" Jessica questioned, opening the conference door. Faith and Miles were right behind her, looking around curiously at the scene.

"You wanted to see us, sir?" Faith confirmed.

"Just Agent Parker and Agent Henderson. Agent DeCook, would you go make sure those reports coming in from analytics are accurate?" My grandfather requested. Miles nodded, and though he looked confused by what was going on, he walked away.

"What did I miss?" Jessica questioned, looking at me uncertainly.

"He found the heroes in Cell Block A." Graham explained. Faith cocked her head to the side, seeming unsurprised by the news.

"I told you he would start snooping around." The scientist commented.

"What is going on?" I demanded, my voice louder this time. My mom opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off. "Don't tell me it's a long story. You kidnapped my friends, I deserve an explanation."

"We're trying to save the world, kid." Faith told me, starting to sound a little annoyed with my insistence on the truth. I rolled my eyes at that, not falling for her crap.

"The hell you are." I retorted.

"AJ!" Mom scolded. My grandfather raised his hand, giving her a look.

"Sienna." He warned gently before looking at me. "You can't just trust us, Andrew?" I scowled at the use of my first name. I'd never liked being called Andrew Jacob, but my parents had named me after some distant Great Uncle I'd never met, and my grandfather insisted on it over my chosen name. "We are family."

"Yeah, and that's why I've kept my mouth shut up until now. The Elite Force has no idea about what Mom can do, about you or Uncle Carson, or about who you really are. I mean, if you even told me the truth about that."

Judging by the looks he and my mother exchanged, I had the feeling that they'd lied to me about that too. "Look, I kept your secrets because we're family. But now, because I'm family, you owe me an explanation." I pushed them.

My grandfather snorted in amusement, so I turned to the others. Graham was looking at me condescendingly, Faith looked genuinely bored being here, and Jessica was just watching us silently, looking as if she felt uncomfortable with the situation. By the looks of things, none of them would be much help to me. But that didn't stop me from trying.

"You said you were saving the world. What did you mean by that?" I questioned, calling on Faith. She glanced at my grandfather, not wanting to say anything without his permission, then, after he nodded, she sat down on the edge of the conference table.

"We're going to stop the bionic and superheroes once and for all." She declared, smiling in pleasure at the idea. I sucked in a breath. Though I'd had a feeling that their plan involved the destruction of the Elite Force and the other hero teams, it still worried me to hear out loud. Unlike Roddisieus, unlike Bridget, S.H.I.R.T. had the resources to accomplish their plan. Not only did they have the numbers, but they were an agency focused on dealing with people with their exact abilities.

"Calla and Jaden are your family, your own blood." I pointed out. I gave my grandfather and mother a sideways glance. "What happened to family being the most important thing?"

"Calla and Jaden aren't bionic, they don't have superpowers." Faith shrugged. She glanced at the others. "There's no need for them to die."

A part of me wanted to argue that Calla DID had powers, and even if she didn't, there was no way that she or her brother would stand by and let their friends die. But for now, I would keep that information to myself.

"Why though?" I asked instead, trying to understand what was going through their heads. I didn't know my grandfather all that well, but I KNEW my mother wasn't a bad person. She'd always done whatever she could to make sure I had a good life, including working three jobs just to send me to one of the top private schools in the city. She couldn't really be a villain...could she?

"That's a little above your paygrade, squirt." Graham retorted. Mom sent him a cold look, then gave me a soft smile.

"I think what he means is that you shouldn't get involved, honey." She told me.

"He already is." Faith pointed out. She looked at the others. "Please tell me I'm not the only one worried about what he'll say when he leaves."

"I'm sure he'll keep the secret." Jessica reasoned, speaking up for the first time since she'd entered the room.

"Don't be stupid." "The hell I will." Graham and I replied at the same time.

"Then we can't allow him to leave. It's that simple." Faith pointed. Mom stood up at that, turning to face the agent.

"You are not locking my son up in those damp little cells." She snarled protectively.

"Well, we can't just let him walk out here." Graham argued. Mom opened her mouth to yell at him, but my grandfather stopped her.

"Enough." He cautioned. Mom sent him a glare, ticked off, but he then added, "Graham is right that Andrew-"

"AJ, Dad." She corrected him, cutting him off. I couldn't help but smile a little at that. My grandfather stared at her for a moment before continuing.

"AJ can't leave the base, lest we risk the Elite Force discovering our plans. Letting him get so close to them in the first place was a dangerous risk and a mistake."

"I didn't find out who was on the team until months after he befriended them." She muttered, annoyed. "And besides, you try telling a teenager who they're allowed to be friends with and see if they listen to you."

"Nevertheless, we can't let him go back to them. He will stay here. However," he quickly continued when my mother started to object, "I have a compromise so that he won't have to stay in those cells. He will be safe, cared for, and comfortable. Agreed?"

"Mom, no." I begged her, hoping that she would refuse and take me home. I didn't know what his compromise was, but I wasn't about to stay here if I had a choice.

"Agreed." She sighed after a moment.

"Good. Now, Agent Henderson, why don't you go check the audio feeds to see how 'Liam' is getting along with his teammates?"

** Rani's POV **

"Anything?" Liam questioned as we walked into mission command. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of him trying to hold Noah in a comfortable position as the kid squirmed and cried. "Bree, would you...?"

"Here." Bree smiled, holding her arms out. Liam gratefully placed Noah back in her arms, scowling when the kid stopped crying the moment he was away from the superhero.

"Well, I'm guessing by the fact that you came back here empty-handed that you didn't find it?" Calla questioned. She was sitting cross-legged on the ground by the cyber table, surrounded by tools and machine parts.

"Uh, no. Babe, what are you doing?" Chase asked, bending down in front of her to look her in the eyes.

"I'm trying to create a device that will amplify the effects of my algorithm." She explained.

"No, I see that. I just mean, why are you on the ground?" He asked slowly. Calla thought about it, then shrugged.

"It's more comfortable." She reasoned. Bree chuckled in amusement, clearly having been there when she was pregnant with Noah.

"How come you're not helping her?" Jaden asked, glancing at Liam.

"She would not let me." He replied. Kaz chuckled at that, amused.

"Yeah, that's Calla for you." He patted Liam on the back, then leaned on the desk nearest to the tunnel entrance. "Anyway, we went over the entire city, it's not here, or within a thirty mile radius of the city itself."

"We can't keep searching like this." Oliver leaned on the desk next to his best friend. "I took us three hours to check that much, and if it's not in the city, it could be anywhere in the world."

"There's got to be an easier way to do this." Skylar looked at Calla and I hopefully. Somewhere along the line, people started turning to us whenever they had a plan. It didn't seem to bother Calla how often she had been called upon to make the impossible a reality, but for me, I wasn't quite used to the attention. It made me miss the League, actually, where there wasn't as much pressure on my shoulders to solve everybody's problems with magic.

"That's the point of this." Calla gestured at the mess of machine parts around her. "It's not a total solution and it's just a prototype, but it should amplify the devices to work at a 50-mile radius instead of 10."

"Great. So it'll take us almost forever instead of actually forever. Great." Liam muttered. I sent him a concerned look but didn't comment. He was so focused on finding this artifact. I understood why, but this level of focus and aggressive determination, it just wasn't like him. I was the one who worked too hard at things, he was supposed to be the relaxed one. It just so out of character for him...

I wasn't the only one looking at him either. Alivia seemed to be watching Liam out of the corner of her eye, a frown on her face.

Luckily, Calla didn't seem to notice his remark. In fact, the only ones that appeared to have heard it were Alivia, Skylar, and I. Skylar didn't look like she liked his comment, but she didn't respond to it, instead turning to the team.

"Alright, I say the rest of us go shower, change, and see if we can come up with any ways that this might go a little faster. No offense, Calla, but I think we'd all like some options to work with." Skylar gave her a smile.

"None taken. Go ahead. I'm going to stay and work on this." Calla waved us away. Instead of leaving though, Chase pulled off his mission suit jacket, tossed it onto the cyber desk, and sat down besides his wife. "I can do this, Chase."

"I know you can, but it's been a while since we've worked on a project together." He reminded her. She smiled at him, looking at him lovingly.

"Too long." She agreed before nodding at one piece of machine. "Alright, you calibrate that, I'll do this?"

"Let's let them be cute together." Bree told us, pushing us towards the hyperlift. Once we were all on the main floor, we all began to split up, doing our own things.

"So, how was babysitting?" Dani joked, heading to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

"I hate kids." Liam told him, shaking his head. Dani stopped rummaging through the cupboards and glanced at me, one eyebrow raised questioningly. I frowned.

"Since when? I thought you said you wanted kids when you go married." I mentioned, a little surprised by the comment.

"That was before I spent time with one." He told me quickly. I bit my lip, but decided not to push the subject of children further.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" I asked instead, offering him a smile before jerking my thumb at the veranda.

"What's wrong with here?" He questioned, confused.

"Oh, I just - I don't want Liv to overhear. I just want to run an idea by you before I talk to her about it." I explained. Liam nodded and followed me out onto the veranda.

"What's up, Rani?" He asked, confused.

"Well," I started to pace slowly, ringing my hands as I did. I wasn't sure how he would respond to what I was going to say, though I was even more unsure of how I wanted him to respond, "I was going through Dr. Wrath's spellbook last night, and there was a spell in it about locating things that don't belong to this world."

"Like alien things?" He questioned.

"I think it was more intended for items with magical properties, but I'm pretty sure I can modify it to find the alien artifact." As expected, he beamed at the idea.

"That's great, Rani! Why didn't you say something earlier?" He demanded, eyes alit with excitement.

"Because it's one of the spells that requires a sacrifice to make it work." I explained. He stopped, nodding in understanding.

"Ah. Yeah, Alivia's not going to go for that." He realized. I bit my lip and smiled at him nervously, grabbing his hands.

"Well, I was thinking that we use the ducks." I told him. He raised an eyebrow, not quite following me, so I gave him an encouraging smile. "Oh, don't play dumb, Liam. Those ducks that followed you home from the park would make the perfect sacrifice; they're harmless creatures, they're ours so it's not like Alivia can object, and I don't think she would anyway, considering how annoyed she was when she found out you brought all of them home with you. At least, she didn't seem to find any of my duck jokes funny, so I don't think she liked them."

"And the ducklings would work?" Liam questioned, looking at me closely.

"Yes, and we wouldn't have to use all of them either. Just one." I told him, watching him. "So? Can we use our ducklings?"

"Absolutely." He told me, smiling. I forced a smile onto my face, my mind racing. There had been a small part of me that had hoped he would respond differently, but now that I knew the truth, or at least part of the truth, I felt that hope die within me.

"Great." I told him, hoping that what I was feeling wouldn't show in my eyes. "Let's go tell the others, shall we?"

"Let's go." He offered me his hand and I took it obediently, following him inside. "Hey, Rani's got an idea."

"That didn't take long." Oliver chuckled as he came down the stairs. He stopped on the bottom one and looked back up the stairs. "Skylar, Alivia! Team meeting!"

Slowly, the team began to file into the living room. I couldn't move from where I was standing behind the couch, feeling sick to my stomach.

Most of the team began to gather in the living room, with the exception of Calla and Chase, whom the team agreed wouldn't be bothered until we had a real plan, so that they could get as much work done on the prototype as possible. As Alivia came down the stairs, hair still wet from the shower we'd no doubt pulled her from. She didn't look mad about that though, just a little confused, an expression that altered slightly when she saw me. Her brow furrowed in concern, but only for a brief second.

"This had better be good." She commented coolly, sitting down on the blue chair that faced us.

"It is." Liam assured he. He looked at me expectantly, and I cleared my throat.

"So, there's a spell in Dr. Wrath's spellbook. It can track anything not of this world, magical or alien, so we could use it to find the artifact. But it requires a sacrifice." I explained carefully, eyes on Alivia the entire time.

"Wait, you were serious about that?" Oliver questioned, shocked. "Rani, we're heroes; we do not kill, especially not for some sacrificial magic spell. I thought you explained this to her." He shot the last comment at Alivia and his sister.

"We did." Alivia assured him before looking at us. "Murder isn't what we do, Rani. Liam, I'm shocked you'd go along with this."

"It's not murder that we're talking about." Liam promised her. "Well, not a human murder."

"Okay, we are keeping you two away from Glitch and Katy." Bree decided.

"We're talking about the ducklings." I told her.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Alivia began, only to be cut off by a question of Jaden's.

"What ducklings?" he asked, confused. Noah was in his arms, his tiny hands grabbing at the ends of Jaden's sleeves.

"There were a group of ducklings that followed me home from the park a while ago." Liam explained. Dani and Alivia both leaned back in their seats, eyes darting between my and Liam's faces. "We figured that since they're ours, we should get to decide what happens to them."

"I just want to clarify, you want to use  _your_  ducklings, the baby ducks that followed  _you_  home from the park, as part of a sacrifice?" Dani questioned. Alivia looked at me, and I shook my head minutely, relieved that they too had picked up on it.

"Yes. Look, I know killing baby animals isn't a good thing, nor is it the heroic thing, but if it means getting our friends back, I think we should consider it." Liam insisted. Dani nodded, wide eyes still on him. She stood up, but before she could do anything, Alivia spoke up.

"Jaden, why don't you go get Calla and Chase? I think this should be a group decision." She told him. He frowned at being told to leave, but didn't argue.

"Sure." He agreed. He carried Noah over to the hyperlift. The moment they were gone, Alivia took a deep breath.

"Okay." She murmured, and all hell broke loose. I pulled away from Liam, tearing my hand out of his just as Dani raised her own hand. A ball of electricity burst from her hand and charged at Liam, breaking apart at the last second to surround him a an electrical field in the shape of a cage.

The others all stood up in shock, confused and angry. "What the hell, Dani?" Skylar demanded, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Look, Dee, I know you're Miss PETA and everything, but this is a little extreme, isn't it?" Kaz questioned, stepping forward to block Liam from her line of sight.

"What, are you working for your mother again?" Liam demanded, pissed off. He looked at me. "Rani, get me out of here."

I shook my head, backing away from him slightly.

"What the hell is going on here?" Chase demanded as he, Calla, Jaden, and Noah got to the main floor. He took one look at the electrical cage before turning to Dani. "Since when can you do that?"

"Trick I picked up while working with the League." Dani explained, smirking. Her hand was still outstretched, her concentration on the cage necessary to keep it there.

"Dani just attacked Liam." Bree explained, staring at Dani in shock.

"No, she didn't." I murmured, finding my voice. Clearing it, I began again, louder this time. "She didn't attack Liam. I don't know who she attacked, but he isn't Liam."

"What are you talking about?" Calla asked, confused.

"A few months ago, Alan and Frostbite went to the park and a bunch of ducklings decided Alan was their mother and followed him home. Alan." Alivia glared at the fake Liam. "Not Liam, Alan. You got your facts wrong, imposter."

"You're insane." 'Liam' snapped. But by now, everyone on the team had turned on him, no longer falling for his tricks.

"Magic you think?" Kaz asked, glancing at me. I frowned, considering it.

" _Occidit omnes magicae in aere."_  I declared, raising my hands. When I didn't feel my own magic activate, I shook my head. "There aren't any spells in the air."

"Tech then? Something to change his appearance?" Oliver asked. Calla bit the inside of her cheek, then glanced at Dani.

"Rani, step away the cage." She instructed as she pulled out her phone. She tossed it onto the couch, then held her hand out as I walked backwards, only stopping when I felt Alivia's hand on my arm. A proton disk formed in the palm of Calla's hand and she gripped it tightly. "Hey, Dani, you know what an ESD is?"

The corner of Dani's lip turned upwards into a sly smile. "Yes, I do." She replied, pleased by Calla's idea.

"You do?" Apparently, Calla hadn't been expecting that answer. She shook her self from it and approached the cage. "Well, this is going to be fun."

She smirked, and then, still gripping the disk, slammed into the electrical 'bars' of Dani's cage in front of his face, causing the entire room to flash white.

** AJ's POV **

"This is kidnapping!" I snarled, furious. I was angry at my grandfather who ordered this to happen, angry at my mother, who allowed it to happen, angry at all the agents who were helping them. Even Jessica, who had accompanied me down to what looked like my new home, was a target for my hatred.

"There are worse ways to live." Jessica commented, but judging from the uncomfortable look on her face and the way she crossed her arms, she clearly wasn't happy with it either. Still, she wasn't wrong. Instead of putting me in a cell like my friends, I'd been given one of the offices to stay in. A pullout couch had been brought in for me to sleep on, along with a TV (no cable, but it had a Roku attached so I could access Netflix if I wanted to) and a few of my video games and books from home. I even had access to my own bathroom. The problem was, I had no phone, no computer, nothing I could use to call for help.

"It doesn't matter. This is kidnapping, and wrong." I insisted, glaring at the blonde haired agent. She gave me a look.

"Think of it as more of a grounding." She suggested. "Just until the plan is complete. Your mom is just looking out for you."

"Yeah, speaking of that plan, it sucks." I declared, dropping down onto the pullout couch.

"It's hard for you to understand." Jessica began. I shook my head.

"No. I understand it. You want to stop them; you're not the first and you certainly won't be the last." I replied, shaking my head before fixing her with a cold stare. "You want to know what I really don't understand? You."

"Me." Jessica hummed, not quite following but humoring me all the same. I nodded.

"Ignoring my family, because they're apparently all lunatics, I understand why everyone is doing what they're doing. Graham's a dick who already has reason to hate the bionic heroes, Faith's a mad scientist who probably just wants this alien artifact that everyone's so up in arms about, and Miles, well, I'm guessing he's even more in the dark than I am and the only reason he's here at all is because Faith wanted him close by when things went to shit." Jessica didn't bother denying any of it, so I figured I was dead on about Miles. "But you...I don't get it. Calla's your friend; how can you do this to her?"

"To her?" Jessica repeated, staring at me. She shook her head, lips pressed together in a thin line. "I'm doing this for her."

"How?" I questioned, shaking my head. She sighed. "Why do you want the Elite Force dead?"

"I don't want them dead. I want them locked away, there's a difference." Jessica insisted. She shook her head, then let out a breath. "They're dangerous."

"They're heroes." I argued.

"For now, maybe. But no one is perfect, no one is always good. Everything we've seen over the last five years proves that they're dangerous. Victor Krane and his plan to brainwash the entire world, the children of Roddisieus and their attacks against two hospitals - both Mighty Med and the civilian one that hid them from the world - and Centium City as a whole, Bridget Short and her plan for world domination...people with powers have the ability to destroy this world and every innocent soul in it."

"The Elite Force aren't like that. Neither are the bionic heroes or the New League of Heroes." I argued. Jessica looked at me, eyes sad.

"You say that, but you haven't seen what I've seen. Adam Davenport has sent 10 people to the hospital while trying to protect Leo Dooley from a group of people who were protesting against their bionic abilities. Rani Shore has committed several violent crimes while working for Doctor Wrath, and yet she never saw any jail time. Spike...well, let's just say, you wouldn't like Chase when he's angry." She had begun to pace, but now she stopped cold, standing in front of the door that was being guarded by two agents. "Nearly three years ago, Dani Short killed a man named Roddiseus – it doesn't matter what he did or didn't do, she murdered him – then joined her mother's terrorist organization, and yet there she is, free and working alongside your Elite Force. Tell me, AJ, would you call any of that justice?"

That was a hard point to argue, especially knowing that Dani had allowed her mother to kill my uncle in the process of her undercover mission. "They put much more good in the world than they do bad." I insisted, though I felt my argument weakening. Jessica smiled.

"I'm sure they do, for now. But there has to be consequences for their actions, kid, and right now, they can do whatever they want, get away with anything, including murder apparently." She told me. "With their abilities and their training, they could take over the world, and we'd be powerless to stop them."

"So, you what? Joined S.H.I.R.T. to stop them before they can commit any crimes?" I challenged. "That's wrong."

"We're taking preemptive measures, that's all. We can't have people like that running around, doing whatever they want." She told me, her tone gentle. I sighed.

"You said you were doing this for Calla. Where does she fit into this?" I questioned. "You do know that she and Jaden will never stop fighting for the Elite Force."

"Yeah, I figured that out a while back, actually. Calla, she...we used to be best friends, before Bree came along, you know that?" She asked me.

"Don't tell me this is petty jealousy." I scoffed at the very idea. To my surprise, Jessica laughed a little at that.

"No, no. Of course not. I just mean, I still care about her. And I know her really well. Calla's a good scientist, but what prevents her from being truly great is that she values her heart's opinion over her head." Jessica stated. She looked at me sadly. "She loves Chase, and the Elite Force, and she will go down with that ship if she has to. If Chase did turn dark side, if he did decide to take over the world, she wouldn't stop him, AJ. I don't know if she'd help him, but she wouldn't stop him. She loves him too much."

"I...Maybe." I admitted. It was impossible to imagine Calla being on opposite sides than Chase, even more impossible than the thought of Chase turning evil.

Jessica crossed her arms again, sighing. "Your grandfather agreed that when we take the Elite Force, she won't be harmed or imprisoned. She might lose her husband, but at least she'll be free and her baby will have a much better chance in this life than if Calla ended up on the wrong side of things. Jaden and Noah too."

"They'll never forgive you. Even if you do stop them, you'll lose Calla as a friend forever." I pointed out. Jessica nodded sadly.

"Perhaps." She agreed. "But it's the right thing to do."

"No, it's not." Even though there were some parts of her argument that were hard to fight, I was sure of that fact. "You may think it is, but it's not. Kidnapping is wrong, no matter why."

"Sometimes we have to do things we don't like in order to get the right results." Jessica reasoned. I looked at her appraisingly, waiting until she'd turned to leave to speak.

"Dani thought the same thing, back when she went undercover to stop her mother. She lost almost everything, all because she didn't stop to think if there was another way to get what she wanted." I pointed out. Jessica paused, head tilted slightly towards me. "I thought you were smarter than her."

She didn't seem to like that comment very much, not saying another word as she left. The door closed behind her, leaving me alone to my thoughts. Hopefully, my words would get through to her, but it was unlikely. If I was going to escape, I had to figure it out on mind own.

Luckily, I already had a plan in mind. And the agents had given me everything I needed.

** Rani's POV **

"What the hell was that?" I demanded, raising a hand in front of my eyes to try and see again. The light had been blinding, but I felt my eyes adjusting quickly.

"An ESD. It's what happens when two electrically charged items, such as pure electricity and my proton disks, make contact." Calla explained. "It works as an electromagnetic pulse."

As she said those words, I noticed some of the other electronics in the room going haywire. It wasn't many of them, just the ones closest to the fake Liam, but they looked seriously fried. As for 'Liam'...

It was like his face was a digital image, starting to break down and glitch. After a moment of the glitches that distorted the image of his face, it finally settled on a face that most certainly wasn't Liam.

He was male, with dark curls and dark brown eyes filled with distain for us. "At least I don't have to play pretend any more." He sneered.

"Who are you?" Chase demanded, stepping forward, one hand raised with his plasma bo, the other one gently sweeping Calla away from the imposter. The man smirked, then his eyes moved towards Dani.

"You know, don't you?" He asked, amused. It was then that I realized that Dani was staring at the man in horror, eyes wide with recognition.

"Dani?" Oliver asked, looking at her in concern. She licked her lips, glancing briefly at her brother before returning her stare to the man.

"This is-you can't be here." She stammered, clearly shell-shocked.

"Who is he?" Alivia encouraged.

"Carson Bosetti." Dani whispered. The man, Carson, smirked.

"Took you long enough, sweetheart." He sneered.

"How do you know him?" Kaz asked Dani, frowning. She raised her head, though she still looked pretty shaken.

"My mother killed him." She replied, wide-eyed. "He's supposed to be dead."


	11. Over and Over Again

** Rani's POV **

"Okay, he's locked up tight." Skylar announced, walking back into the room from the tunnels. Sometime before we started working with them, Calla and Chase had installed a jail cell with power-nullifying bars in one of the dead ends of the tunnels, believing it would be useful in case they needed to interrogate bad guys before handing them over to UPSEI. Though they hadn't used it yet, it certainly came in handy today.

"Good. You were saying?" Chase questioned, turning back to Dani. The electrokinetic sighed, shaking her head.

"He was the scientist that my mother had Sebastian and I kidnap back when I was working with her. She and Gao interrogated him about some of the physics with their device - Mom wasn't totally sold on Gao's ability to make it work, so she wanted a second opinion, and Carson studied that type of theoretical physics." Dani placed her hands on the cyber desk, biting her lip. "And then, when they were done with him, they killed him."

"Well, apparently not." Bree commented. Dani gave her a look.

"They killed him. I'm sure of that. Or at least, I was..." She trailed off, clearly bothered by this turn of events.

"Did you see them kill him?" Alivia asked, arms crossed but her tone patient. Dani shook her head.

"No, not personally, but...I heard him scream. And I saw the cell they were keeping him in afterwards - there was so much blood." She shuddered involuntarily. Kaz went to put his hand on her arm to comfort her, but she pulled away, purposefully not looking at anyone. I frowned in confusion, as did Kaz. They hadn't said anything to anyone yet, but I was sure that they were back together, or at least one intimate moment away from making out on the couch. Why was she pulling away now? She offered no explanation, only continued as if nothing had happened. "There was too much for anyone to survive."

"Could it have came from multiple sources?" Calla suggested. Dani looked at her, a little disgusted at the thought of more than one person dying in that cell. "Look, obviously he survived, so there has to be an explanation."

I sighed in frustration, annoyed with all this waiting. "Why don't we go ask him then?"

Without waiting for anyone to try and stop me, I turned on my heel and turned down the tunnel Skylar had just come from.

"Rani!" I heard Alivia call my name but I didn't let up, instead moving faster until I burst through the door to the holding area. Carson was pacing slowly in front of the blue, electrical bars, looking more impatient than bothered by the fact that he'd been captured.

"Well, it took you long enough." He quipped. I glowered at him, approaching as close as I dared to the bars.

"How are you alive?" I demanded, crossing my arms. I didn't look, but I could hear the others enter the room behind me. No one said anything though, not even Carson. "Where are Spotlight, Scarlet Ace, Kieran Daniels, and Taylor Krane?" Again, I was met with silence and a cocky smirk. "Who are you working for? Arthur Bosetti?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He teased.

"You're going to answer me." I told him angrily, quickly losing my patience with this guy.

"Rani." Alivia warned. I glanced back at her and she nodded at my feet. To my surprise, my shadow was lifting half a foot off the ground, twisting frantically around my ankles.

"How are you alive?" I questioned, turning back to Carson without paying the shadows any more attention. He glanced at me, amused. "You're going to want to answer me now. How are you alive?"

"Magic." He replied, sitting down on the cot in his cell, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.

"As if you know any." I sneered.

"Rani." Someone called my name, the tone more stern this time.

"The truth, asshole." I snarled.

"Like I said, magic." He replied. I scoffed.

"You want to see some magic?" I challenged. "Adolebitque eum viv-"

"Enough." A sharp yank on my arm stopped me before I could complete. "Rani! Calm down!"

"Calm down?" I demanded, staring at Chase in utter bewilderment. "How can you be so calm? He knows what happened to the others! He impersonated Spotlight, probably helped kidnap them - we don't even know if they're alive. And you want me to calm down?"

"This isn't helping." He told me. I glowered at him. "Take a walk."

"Not happening." I retorted, standing my ground. By now, I could feel the shadows creeping up my sides, ready to lash out and destroy if need be.

"Take a walk." Chase repeated slowly, his tone controlled but angry.

"That's a good idea. Come on." Skylar grabbed my arm, pushing me out of the tunnel. I ripped my arm away from her grip, but she wouldn't let me turn back, waiting until after we were out of the tunnel to stop forcing me forwards. She even closed the tunnel entrance behind us for good measure.

"Look, I get that you're upset, but freaking out at Carson isn't going to help, and getting mad at Chase or any of our other friends isn't fair." Déjà vu

"Fair?" I echoed, staring at her. "It isn't fair?"

"No, it isn't." Skylar replied, giving me a stern look. She was so...calm. It was infuriating! And how dare she talk to me about being fair?

"I don't know how it works on whatever weird-ass planet you're from, but here, on Earth, things ain't fair. If it were, do you really think I'd be here? Because I sure as hell don't. And before you talk about things being fair, think about this: Alivia and I are the only ones here with a personal stake in things. Spotlight is my boyfriend. The Scarlet Ace is hers. And hell, you barely knew Kieran or Taylor. So don't you dare talk to me about fair when you're not the one with something to lose."

Skylar stared at me for a brief moment, stunned. "Do you really think I don't care about them, just because we're not dating any of them?" Her voice was soft, hurt, but I didn't care. "Rani, I may not be as close to Liam and Lily as you and Liv are, or as close to Kieran and Taylor as some of the people at the Academy, but I do care what happens to them. But this, getting angry, it isn't going to help."

I scoffed at her, done with her condescending I-know-better-than-you attitude. "You know what? Maybe that walk was a good idea."

"Rani." Skylar called, but I pushed past her, heading for the elevator.

I could end this so easily. I knew ways to make people like Carson talk - sure, they were ways that Dr. Wrath had taught me back when I was his pupil, but it wasn't like this guy deserved our mercy. And the sooner we got him to talk, the sooner we could save the others. Why didn't they understand that?

Half an hour later, I found myself heading back to the penthouse. As much as I hated to agree with Chase, the walk did help me clear my head a bit. But not in the way that he had probably imagined - instead of my anger disappearing, it had turned cold and violent. It was no longer uncontrollable rage, but a controlled, deadly force that would destroy Carson if they let me anywhere near him.

"Hey." Oliver greeted as I walked into the penthouse. He, Skylar, Jaden, and Noah were the only ones in the living room. Oliver and Skylar were seated in front of a couple of computer screens, while Jaden was trying desperately to soothe his crying eight-month-old. "I made chicken burgers for lunch. Tofu too, if Dani's managed to get you on the vegetarian kick like she said she would."

"Not hungry, thanks." I replied. "What are you guys doing?"

Skylar didn't answer me, instead plugging in some headphones. Oliver grimaced at the awkwardness between us before giving me a kind smile.

"We are researching Carson Bosetti, to see what we can learn about him." He explained. He paused, wincing as Noah let out another wail. "At least, we're trying to."

"Hey, I'm doing my best. Uh, think you can watch him for a second, man?" Jaden looked at Oliver hopefully. "Bree might have a better chance at this, but she's guarding Carson and I don't want to bring Noah anywhere near him."

"I'm terrible with babies." Oliver replied instantly, backing away slightly. I smirked, remembering something Dani had told me about her brother.

"Right, you have a weird phobia about them, right? Something about their lack of kneecaps? The big bad superhero, afraid of babies. I love that." I mocked him. He gave me a look.

"You don't have to be mean." He pointed out. Skylar let out an irritable sigh, pulling the earbuds from her ears.

"Just give him to me." She decided, getting up. Jaden gave her a grateful smile and handed her the crying bundle. "Hurry please."

"Thanks, Skylar." He told her, already heading for the hyperlift. He got to the fireplace just as the walls slid open, Alivia walking out. "Oh, hey Liv."

"Hey." She gave him a smile before looking at me. "Can we talk?"

"Must we?" I questioned, knowing that this would turn into a lecture.

"Veranda, now." She ordered, pointing and leaving no room for discussion.

I sighed, but complied and led the way onto the veranda. As she turned back to make sure the doors were closed behind her, I saw Bree walk onto the main floor, Jaden obviously having replaced her as Carson's guard.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Alivia demanded. I crossed my arms.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was just interrogating him." I defended myself.

"No, you were getting angry and emotional and allowing him to aggravate you. You're better than that. And going off at Skylar? She didn't deserve that."

"She narked on me?" I questioned, ticked off.

"Didn't have to. Those tunnel walls aren't as thick as you'd think." She informed me. I scowled, annoyed. "Don't give me that look; you crossed the line, Rani. We do not treat our teammates like that."

"She's not my teammate." I pointed out.

"She is while we're working with the Elite Force, especially since we live together for the time being. You are to play nice." She told me. I opened my mouth to argue, but she didn't give me the chance. "That's an order, Nyx."

"Yes ma'am. Would you like me to apologize too?" I questioned sarcastically. Alivia rolled her eyes at my tone.

"I'm not your mother, Rani, I'm not going to tell you to apologize for something we both know you're not sorry for." She told me. "But you will be nice to her and everyone else here while we stay here. Or I will pull you off this mission and send you back to New York."

I felt myself flinch at her words. "You can't do that."

"I can if you're a liability. If you can't keep your emotions in check, you can get yourself or one of us hurt, and it's my job to avoid problems like that. If you end up being a problem, you're done."

"I won't follow that order." I challenged her.

"Then you're off the team." She threatened. I took a step back, shocked she'd go that far.

"You wouldn't dare." I said when I finally found my voice again.

"I can and I will. I don't want to, Rani. You more than just an asset in the field - you're practically family by this point. But if I can't trust you to follow orders that I've given you, especially when you know that disobeying them will put our people in danger, then I can't trust you on this team."

I stared at her, unable to think of a response. Alivia sighed and started to walk back inside, before stopping with the door slightly ajar. She looked back at me, a sad look on her face. "I don't want to be in this position, Rani, but you're not making this easy. Either you behave, you go to New York, or you're off the team. It's up to you."

"Alivia, I-" Before I could finish, I was cut off by the team's AI.

_ "I'm sorry to interrupt, but there appears to have been a breach in the holding facility." _  MISS announced, getting all of our attentions.  _"The prisoner has escaped and while Mister Chase is in the process of attempting to detain him once again, he may be in need of some assistance."_

Alivia and I exchanged looks, then wordlessly raced after Skylar, Oliver, and Bree, Noah being left lying on his blanket.

By time we got down there, Chase was already grappling with Carson, who was giving escape his best shot. Chase had his plasma bo out, trying to push Carson down with it, but Carson had somehow managed to get ahold of a metal bo staff for himself (Alivia had gotten Chase to train her in that kind of fighting, claiming it might come in handy in the future, and must have forgotten to put the staff away before we left for New York) and was using it to fend Chase off. Calla was standing near the entrance to the tunnels, her plasma gun in her hands and aimed at the two. She hadn't taken a shot yet, likely because of the risk of hitting Chase, but you could tell that she was waiting for her opportunity.

Well, unlike her, I didn't care so much about waiting for a clear shot. I raised my hand and our shadows leapt off the ground, targeting the two men. It slammed the two into the wall, though I had them release Chase as soon as he was separated from Carson.

"What the hell, Rani?" Bree demanded, turning to me.

"You could have seriously hurt me!" Chase added, ticked off.

"But I didn't." I pointed out. He gave me a look, as did Alivia. "You guys were evenly matched, whether you want to admit it or not. That was the best way to separate you two and catch Carson at the same time."

"How'd he escape?" Kaz demanded, suddenly arriving in the hyperlift with Dani at his side.

"Where were you two?" Oliver asked, confused.

"Just upstairs. MISS told us he escaped. How?" Dani repeated Kaz's questioned.

"I don't know, somehow he deactivated the bars." Jaden explained, stumbling into the main area of the mission command, one arm cradling his ribs with a pained grimace on his face. "He overpowered me and shot me with my own plasma gun."

"Are you okay?" Bree demanded, stepping forward to check him over, one hand gently touching the arm that was wrapped around his midsection, the other cupping his cheek as her eyes roamed his body for visible injuries.

"I've been better, but it's nothing serious." He promised her, raising his chin to kiss her on the forehead in reassurance. He looked at the rest of us. "I seriously don't know how he got out - one minute the bars were working, the next they weren't."

"How'd you get out?" I questioned, raising my eyebrow at Carson. He smirked, even as he squirmed in my shadow's grip.

"As if I'd tell you." He retorted. I scowled and tightened the shadow's grip, getting a little pleasure from the sound he made when the pressure across his chest increased.

"Rani, what did I just tell you?" Alivia demanded. I sent her a look, then opened my hand, dropping Carson to the ground.

"Today is not the day to push me, Geminus." I warned her. After the rollercoaster ride with the fake-Liam, Skylar's little talk about fairness, and Alivia's threat to boot me off the team, I was just done.

"Guys, not the time." Calla told us, giving us both a look.

"Alright, Oliver, Skylar, take Carson back to his cell. I want two of us guarding him at a time, alright? Kaz and I will relieve you in a couple of hours. That good with you?"

"Perfect." Skylar nodded as Oliver grabbed Carson by the back of his shirt and started pushing him back towards the cells.

"I'm going to go check those bars out, see if it was a mechanical or technical failure, or if he did something to sabotage them." Calla offered, following after them.

"Where did he think he was going?" Dani questioned, looking around. "I get he was trying to escape, but there's nowhere to go."

She was right; aside from the tunnel he'd come from, the rest of the entrances to the underground tunnels were locked, the rock walls successfully hiding them from view. The only way out would be through the hyperlift, but then he'd have to get through all of us. Not a very smart plan, not by a long shot.

"I think he was going for the computer. At least, that's what he went for after attacking Calla." Chase explained. He glanced at Dani and Kaz. "She says she's fine and I believe her, but can one of you guys check her, just to be sure?"

"Sure." Kaz nodded.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Jaden muttered. Chase rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

"And Jaden. Make sure he's not dying." He teased. Jaden gave him an offended look, but the amusement in his eyes said that while he was sore, he wasn't hurt badly enough to be offended by Chase's desire to have Calla checked out first.

"What could he have wanted on the computer? Calla's got the files on there locked up tighter than Fort Knox." Bree questioned, looking between.

"He could have been trying to send a message to S.H.I.R.T. for help." Kaz and Oliver looked at Alivia when she said that. She shrugged. "No way it's a coincidence that his father is Arthur Bosetti."

"Are we sure about that? Bosetti could be a popular name." Kaz pointed out, though he himself didn't seem so sure.

"AJ confirmed it last year, back when we thought Carson was dead." Dani told him, bending down to start cleaning up some pieces of metal and circuitry that Calla had been working with earlier. "It looks like he broke Calla's amplifier prototype."

"Yeah. I don't think he actually managed to do anything." Chase assured us. I knelt down to help Dani clean up, grabbing a larger piece. "I mean, between when he attacked Calla and when I got in here, he couldn't have been on the computer longer than thirty seconds."

"Still, it's better to be sure." Bree mentioned. Chase nodded.

"Yeah, I'll go over the files to make sure nothing was touched." He promised her. Alivia glanced at him.

"Are you sure? I can do it if you need to call the mayor back." She offered.

"The mayor?" I repeated, standing up with the larger piece of the device in my hands. It looked like it was still salvageable, the wiring intact and everything. Maybe Calla could fix whatever damage had been done to it.

"I work for him as his mayor. I should call him back..." Chase trailed off, pulling his phone out. He glanced at Alivia. "You sure you know how to navigate around Calla's security protection?"

"Let me do it." Jaden offered. He gave Alivia a smile. "Sorry, but CeeCee's made me learn this security program back to front and it'll be quicker if I do it."

"Suit yourself." Alivia shrugged. Chase nodded and walked away to call the mayor back, while Bree, Alivia, Kaz, and I went upstairs, leaving Dani to check over Jaden and Calla.

"Hey, bug." Bree smiled, scooping Noah up in her arms. "I'm sorry we left you up here alone."

I scoffed a little, glancing at the clock and realizing that it was only 3:02 PM. "It was barely three minutes, Bree. How much trouble could he get into during that time?"

"You'd be surprised. Dani ever mention the time my infant sister got ahold of one of Chase's inventions and turned herself into a preteen?" She questioned. I rolled my eyes, not exactly in the mood for a story.

"I think we're out of milk." Alivia announced, looking in the fridge, before rising on her toes to grab a few bills out of the jar on top of the fridge labelled 'Grocery Money'. "Anyone else need anything from the store?"

"Maybe a loaf of bread? Kaz isn't doing groceries until Saturday, but that should tide us over in the way of breakfast foods until then."

"Cool." Alivia nodded, walking out the door. I placed the device on the counter, not having realized that it was in my hands when I came up. I figured Calla could just grab it later, once everything had settled down a bit.

Suddenly, a loud bang came from the hallway, loud enough to get all of our attention. Kaz glanced at us, confused, then went to open the door. Before he could reach it, however, Alivia came crashing through it backwards, the door coming clean off its hinges.

"We have company." She told us needlessly, just as several armed men and women, all dressed in black and silver uniforms, came charging.

"MISS, get everyone up here, now!" Kaz shouted as we all leapt to defend ourselves. Alivia split into two, one darting left to deal with the nearest attacker, while the other rolled backwards off the door and into a fighting stance. Bree sped away with Noah instantly, reappearing a moment later without her son and ready to fight. Kaz and I didn't need any time to prepare attacks, instead instantly using our respective powers to blast our attackers full of fire and shadows.

There were too many of them though, and our attacks did little to diminish our numbers. Pretty soon, the penthouse living room was full of armed assailants, leaving us with little room to use our powers. As one neared too close, I grabbed Calla's device and used it as a bat, hitting a nearby attacker in the jaw with the hunk of metal. Sparks flew from the end of the device, but it did its job well, the heavy blow knocking the man out cold.

"Rani!" Suddenly, Bree barreled into me, pushing me over the edge of the couch just as an array of bullets came flying towards us. Bree just barely managed to get us out of harms way, using the couch as cover from the deadly weapons. I nodded at her in thanks and opened my mouth to make an attack suggestion when I heard a pained cry come from the stair case.

Snapping my head towards the source, I saw one of Alivia's duplicates drop, falling down the stairs without another sound. The other duplicate cried out at the same time, going rigid. "Shit!" I muttered, remembering how badly the death of one of her duplicates could affect her. "Bree, she-"

Before I could finish the sentence, I saw, almost in slow motion, one of the agents go for Alivia. Too distracted by the sudden loss of her clone, the red-headed hero didn't notice him until it was too late, until he'd already pulled the trigger.

"No!" I shouted in shock as Alivia stumbled back, arms wrapping around her midsection before she dropped to her knees. But it wasn't until she fell forwards, head hitting the floor with a choking gasp that it really hit me what was happening. "No!" I stood up, one hand clenching Calla's device, the other outstretched towards the agent. "Quid factum est, prohibere!"

Suddenly, Calla's device sparked in my hand, slightly distracting me from the spell. But it wasn't enough to stop it - the magic was already in the air.

** Xxx **

"Enough." There was a sharp yank on my arm, turning me to look at a very ticked off looking Chase. Somehow, I was back in the holding cell area, surrounded by the rest of the team and Carson, who was sitting on the cot in his cell, back against the wall. "Rani! Calm down!"

"Calm down?" I repeated, confused. What the hell? Shouldn't I be in the living room, upstairs? "What are you talking about?"

"Going off at him isn't going to help." He told me. I stared at him, then looked around in bewilderment. The spell I had used, I'd never used before, but I remembered clearly from my lessons. 'If you're ever beaten in a fight and there's no chance of escape, this spell will undo the last few moments, giving you a chance to save yourselves, but use it sparingly - the energy needed for it may be more than you have to spare', Dr. Wrath's words echoed in my head. But this didn't make sense at all.

"This doesn't make sense." I mumbled, confused.

"We'll figure it out, but right now, I think you need to take a walk." Chase suggested, gesturing at the tunnel. I followed his gaze, then shook my head.

"No, you - you don't understand." Had I accidently undone more than just the fight? Was that even possible.

"Rani, you're done. Do as he says." Alivia insisted. I looked at her, eyes wide, still trying to comprehend what I'd done.

"Come on." Skylar grabbed my arm, pushing me out of the tunnel. I let her lead me out, still trying to calculate in my mind just how I'd managed to miscalculate my spell by so much. "Look, I get that you're upset, but freaking out at Carson isn't going to help, and not listening to Chase or Alivia when they tell you to take it down a notch isn't either."

"Skylar-" I began, but she stopped me.

"You looked like you were going to kill him in there, Rani." She told me. I stopped, looking at her.

"Would that be so bad?" I questioned. "He deserves it."

"Heroes don't kill." Skylar argued.

"Tell that to Dani." I pointed out. Skylar crossed her arms.

"That isn't fair." She defended her friend. I looked at her, getting a sense of déjà vu.

"Don't talk to me about fair, alright? Not when you've got half as much to lose as we do." I snapped. Skylar looked at me, confused.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She questioned. I shook my head.

"You know what? Not the time for this. Right now, we have to worry about Carson. He's dangerous." I still didn't understand how I'd managed to reverse things so far back, but it didn't really matter so much as what I did with the extra time.

"Not enough to kill him." Skylar argued.

"Debatable. But that's not the point. He's going to escape." I told her. She rolled her eyes, not believing me. "I'm serious, Skylar. He's going to escape and contact his buddies at S.H.I.R.T.. They're going to come for him and to take us out."

"That's a little bit of a stretch, isn't it?" Skylar asked me, unamused. "Even if that could happen, which it wouldn't, there's no way that he'll get out of that cell. Those bars will block any powers he might have, and we're not stupid enough to leave him down here alone."

"It won't be enough!" I insisted.

"Rani, chill for a second." Kaz interrupted, walking into the room, Calla, Oliver, Dani, Bree, and Jaden close behind him. "Take a breather and think it through; there's no way he can get out of that cell."

"Why aren't you watching him?" I demanded, eyes wide. If he escaped again and contacted his friends...well, I just couldn't let that happen. "I'm going to see him."

"No, you're not." Calla stopped me, placing her hand on my arm. Meanwhile, Oliver, Kaz, Dani, Jaden, and Bree used the hyperlift to go to the main floor. "Chase and Alivia thought it would be easier to interrogate him in private, and after that little display, I think maybe it's a good idea that you two get some space. Go."

"Calla," I began, but she shook her head.

"Nope, no arguing. Both Chase and Alivia want you far away from him, and I agree with them. Go grab some lunch with the others." She insisted. "Let me work on my amplifier, would you?"

"Are you sure those bars are going to hold up? Because I don't think they will." I told her. She looked at me, brow furrowed in annoyance.

"I'm sure. They're state of the art; I installed them myself." She insisted. "They'll work perfectly."

"No offense, Calla, but they won't." I insisted. She crossed her arms.

"Why not?" She challenged. I bit my lip. "Well? If you have a genuine concern about them, I'd like to hear it. Do you have a logical reason for why they won't work?"

"I...they're going to malfunction." I insisted.

"First of all, no. There are failsafes to prevent that from happening. And second of all, there's no way you could know that." Calla declared. I sighed in frustration.

"I do. I know the future. I've seen it." I told her. She rolled her eyes, not falling for it for a second.

"Lily's the psychic, not you. Now go, Rani. You're starting to tick me off too." She told me.

"Seriously, Davenport?" I questioned. She looked at me, eyes alight with anger.

"Seriously." She insisted.

"Come on, Rani." Skylar encouraged. I looked between her and Calla helplessly. Of course they didn't believe me. But it wasn't exactly like I could prove my claims.

"Fine." I grumbled, following Skylar up to the main floor.

"Did you really think she'd fall for that?" Skylar questioned.

"Don't, just...don't." I snapped at her before walking into the living room. "MISS? I'd like to see the live security footage of the holding cell on the TV screen."

_ "Of course." _  MISS replied and the screen turned on, showing the security footage. Alivia and Chase were standing in front of the cell, speaking with an apparently silent Carson. The footage didn't come with audio, unfortunately, but I could get a good sense as to what was happening from here. Chase was hanging back a bit, letting Alivia take the lead on the interrogation, though clearly supporting her by making comments every so often. Alivia, on the other hand, was walking back and forth in front of Carson's cell, keeping her eyes locked on him.

"Are you just going to pace in front of that TV until they're done?" Oliver questioned as he pulled a few chicken burgers out of the freezer. I stopped, not knowing when I started moving, then nodded to myself.

"Yes." I replied loudly, beginning to pace again.

"You're ridiculous." I heard Skylar mutter. I chose to ignore her.

"Where are Dani and Kaz?" I questioned, noticing that neither of them were on the floor. As soon as Alivia came up to speak to me, I'd warn her about the attack. She'd believe me, surely. If not, Dani was my second choice.

"Upstairs, both of them. Dani said she was going to go over Mom's notes on Carson in her room. Kaz went to take a shower." Jaden explained. I nodded to myself and continued to pace in front of the TV, watching Carson like a hawk. He was going to sabotage the bars, I knew it. I just needed to see how he did it.

Eventually, Bree finished her lunch and headed downstairs to bring Calla a plate and to check in with Alivia and Chase. I waited impatiently, watching the TV screen as she entered the holding cell area. She spoke with Chase and Alivia for a couple of long minutes - during which, Noah decided that he was no longer satisfied with being taken care of by Jaden - before being cut off by Chase's phone ringing. He stepped away to take the call and both he and Alivia disappeared from view.

"Hey, Oliver?" Jaden called suddenly, raising his voice above Noah's cries. "Do you think you can watch Noah for a second? I think Bree might have a better chance at this, but she's guarding Carson and I don't want to bring Noah anywhere near him."

"I'm terrible with babies." Oliver replied instantly, backing away slightly.

"You're afraid of them." I murmured to myself, remembering what I'd said the first time.

"Look, they're weird, okay?" Oliver defended himself.

"I'll take him." Skylar offered, getting up from the couch. Jaden gave her a grateful smile and handed her the crying bundle. "Hurry though? Please?"

"Thanks, Skylar." He told her, already heading for the hyperlift. Just like before, he got to the fireplace just as the walls slid open, Alivia walking out. "Oh, hey Liv."

"Hey." She gave him a smile before looking at me. Before she could speak, I cut her off.

"We need to talk." I told her insistently. She blinked, surprised.

"My thoughts exactly." She agreed. She started towards the veranda, but I shook my head.

"Downstairs." I told her.

"Yeah, no." She told me. I nodded.

"Oh yeah. It's important." I didn't give her the chance to argue, instead heading for the hyperlift, confident that she would follow eventually. Sure enough, seconds after I arrived in mission command, Alivia came shooting down behind me.

"Seriously? Get out." Calla snapped at me, irritated. "Alivia, why would you bring her down here?"

"She didn't give me much of a choice." Alivia told her. She looked at me. "You want to tell me what the hell is wrong with you?" She demanded.

"Time travel." I answered. She opened her mouth to argue, then stopped herself once what I'd said actually processed.

"What?" She questioned, confused. I pointed at the tunnel leading to the holding cell.

"He's going to break out of that cell, because those bars WILL fail, and then he's going to contact his buddies, probably the ones that work at S. .T., and they're going to come in here and take us out. I saw it." I insisted.

"Back up, time travel? How?" Alivia demanded, looking at me closely. She glanced at Calla. "Did you know about this?"

"She said she knew the future, but she didn't mention anything about actual time travel." Calla explained before looking at me. "You wanna explain that?"

"Magic." I explained. At Calla's confused look, I elaborated. "I have a spell than can undo a couple of minutes of time, if need be."

"How come you never mentioned it before?" Alivia questioned.

"I've never really used it before. I tried once, but I didn't have the power to make it work." I explained.

"Wait, let's go back a sec - you said it allows you to go back a couple of minutes? Are you saying that everything you just told us is going to happen is going to happen in the span of a couple of minutes?" Calla questioned skeptically. "Rani, that's impossible. Even if he did manage to get an SOS to his friends, which I still don't think is going to happen because that cell is the best Davenport Industries has come up with, there's no way that they'd be able to get here and storm the place in two minutes."

"No, I - duh, of course it can't happen in a span of two minutes." I agreed. "The spell is supposed to only work for a couple of minutes, but it brought me back more than just that. A lot more."

"How much more?" Alivia questioned sharply.

"Uh...forty minutes, give or take? I'm not entirely sure, but Carson is going to escape any second, and his buddies are going to be here in..." I pulled out my phone, double-checking the time. "They're going to be here in about eleven minutes."

Calla observed me for a moment, then leaned back in her chair, a thoughtful look on her face. She glanced at Alivia. "Do you believe this?" She asked.

"You think I'm lying?" I challenged, offended. She sighed.

"It's not that, but...what you're saying. It does sound a bit like an excuse to let you have another go at Carson." She admitted. I rolled my eyes. "And the type of attack you're talking about, it sounds like a tactical team, and it takes more than eleven minutes to set one up and get it over here, surely. I mean, if we're right about Carson working with S.H.I.R.T., their base is at least a fifteen minute drive, even longer if they go through the tunnels."

"Maybe they have geoleap tech, like you're watch." I reasoned. "I mean, the cyber mask Carson used to disguise himself as Liam was similar to Davenport Industries' version of the thing, wasn't it? It's possible that they copied more of your technology."

"I don't know if they'd be able to do that." Calla told me hesitantly.

"Look, I don't know how it's possible that they're going to do what they're going to do, but I do know it's going to happen unless we stop it." I insisted.

"It is a little hard to swallow, Rani. Are you sure that-" She began, only to cut herself off prematurely to drop to the ground, pulling Calla and I with her. A shot of plasma flew over our heads and I acted instinctively, spinning around and sending a shadowy dagger in the direction of the attack.

Carson dodged my attack, dropping the plasma gun to grip the bo staff he'd already picked up with both hands. He spun it at me, aiming for my head, but Alivia got there first, slamming her elbow into him. He dropped down low, kicking his leg out and knocking her off her feet. I went to take advantage of his closeness to the ground, raising a leg to kick him across the face, but he was too fast; before I could land the blow, he slammed the bo staff into my stomach, knocking the breath from my lungs.

My knees buckled but he grabbed my hair, yanking it painfully to force me upwards. I saw Calla aiming her plasma gun at him, but he was forcing to stand between the two of them, blocking her shot. "Shoot!" I shouted.

"I don't have to a clear shot!" She replied in frustration as Carson typed on the computer.

"Hey!" Chase burst into the room, eyes widening when he saw what was going on. He raised his hand and I felt an invisible force pulling me away from Carson.

"Ow, ow, ow!" I screamed when Carson's grip on my hair didn't let up.

"Hey!" Oliver shouted, suddenly arriving in mission command with Skylar and Bree via the hyperlift. He raised his hand and a blast of ice flew at Carson. It hit him in the chest, causing him to lose his grip on me. It threw him into the cyberdesk, knocking Calla's amplifier onto the ground and breaking it, just like before.

"Are you okay?" Bree demanded, looking at me in concern. I nodded quickly, rubbing the back of my head.

"How'd he escape?" Kaz demanded, suddenly arriving in the hyperlift with Dani at his side.

"Where were you two?" Oliver asked, confused.

"Just upstairs. MISS told us he escaped. How?" Dani repeated Kaz's questioned.

"I don't know, somehow he deactivated the bars." Jaden explained, stumbling into the main area of the mission command, one arm cradling his ribs with a pained grimace on his face. "He overpowered me and shot me with my own plasma gun."

"Are you okay?" Bree demanded, stepping forward to check Jaden over, one hand gently touching the arm that was wrapped around his midsection, the other cupping his cheek as her eyes roamed his body for visible injuries.

"I've been better, but it's nothing serious." He promised her, raising his chin to kiss her on the forehead in reassurance. He looked at the rest of us. "I seriously don't know how he got out - one minute the bars were working, the next they weren't."

"Maybe you should check to see if they're working properly." I mentioned to Calla, trying and failing to hide the smugness from my voice.

"Good idea." Calla admitted, getting up to go check those bars.

"Oliver, Skylar, will you guys take Carson back to his cell? Stay there with him and Calla until she's double checked the bars on his cell, then I want two of us guarding him at a time, alright? Kaz and I will relieve you in a couple of hours." Chase instructed.

"Sure." Skylar nodded as Oliver grabbed Carson by the back of his shirt and started pushing him back towards the cells.

"Okay, are you guys okay?" Chase questioned, looking at us now that the immediate threat was over.

"We're fine, thanks. We should check to see if he managed to get a message through to his friends." I decided, turning to the computer.

"We don't know that's what he was trying to do. There are plenty of files on that computer he could have been getting into. He used his disguise as Liam to get in here in the first place - he must had a plan, and it wouldn't be the first time a villain has tried to access these files."

"I'm pretty sure he was sending an SOS." I insisted.

"Why?" Dani spoke up, confused.

"Just, would you check that first?" Alivia questioned. I sent her a grateful smile.

"Sure." Chase sat down at the cyberdesk. "MISS, please show us any and all outgoing messages or signals from the cyberdesk within the last hour."

_ "There are no messages ingoing or outgoing." _  MISS replied.

"Nothing? Not even something he could have deleted to hide?"

_ "No. There have been no messages or signals ingoing or outgoing since 8:02 AM, when Miss Calla sent an email to Dooley, Leo." _

"Thank you MISS. I'd like you to run a scan, see what he did access." Chase ordered. He looked at me. "Happy?"

"Thrilled." I replied, only half-sarcastically. Okay, we were able to prevent him from sending the message this time. That was good. S.H.I.R.T. didn't know we had him, which meant they weren't going to attack. Thank God.

"Good. Now if you excuse me, I need to call the mayor back." He announced, walking away from us and pulling out his cell phone.

"Okay. Rani, upstairs, please." Alivia gestured at the hyperlift. I nodded and followed her upstairs. Bree and Kaz followed shortly after us, Dani staying behind to check over Jaden for injuries.

"Hey, bug." Bree smiled, scooping Noah up in her arms. "I'm sorry we left you up here alone."

I rolled my eyes, not bothering to comment on how little time he'd actually spent alone. "So, the attack, not going to happen now?" Alivia checked, pulling me into the kitchen. I shook my head.

"It shouldn't, if he didn't manage get a message to his buddies, then they don't know he's been busted yet." I reasoned. Alivia nodded.

"Good, because I actually did want to talk to you." She decided. I sighed.

"Oh, please, not this again." I sighed. She frowned.

"I'm guessing we had this talk before you decided to rewind time?" She guessed. I nodded. "What'd I say?"

"Uh, in summary? Either learn to play nice or go back to New York. Or you'll kick me off the team." I replied, still bitter about her ultimatum.

"I threatened you with that?" Alivia looked surprised. "How badly were you pushing my buttons?"

"Really badly apparently." I replied. She considered it thoughtfully, then nodded.

"Okay, well...play nice." She instructed. I mock saluted her, to which she rolled her eyes. She turned to the fridge, looking for something to drink. "We're out of milk." I mentioned before she opened it. No sooner had those words passed my lips than the front door burst open and armed men and women, all dressed in black and silver uniforms, came charging in.

"What the hell?" Kaz demanded, leaping to his feet and raising his hand to send a stream of fire towards the intruders. "MISS, get everyone up here, now!"

I grabbed Alivia's arm before she could split into her duplicates, just as Bree sped Noah away to safety. "Three, not two." I warned her. She gave me a confused look, but followed my instructions, splitting herself into three versions of herself.

Bree was back a second later, and now that I knew how they'd attack - using their number to their advantage in such a tight space - I found it much easier to fend them off. I was careful to keep an eye on Alivia's duplicates though, desperate to keep at least one of them alive.

"Rani!" Kaz's sudden shout drew my attention and I realized, too late, that one of the men had their weapon trained on me. It was all I could do to drop to the ground as he pulled the trigger. The last thing I saw was the floor coming up to meet me and a fiery sear of pain striking the top of my shoulder.

** Xxx **

"Enough." A sharp yank on my arm turned me to face Chase. "Rani! Calm down!"

I stared at him, then at the others. What...? "What the hell?"

"Yeah, what the hell. Take a walk." Chase told me. I blinked, more confused than I'd ever been in my life. How had I gotten here? The last time was weird enough, but I hadn't even cast a spell this time.

"What's going on?" I questioned, confused.

"Alivia and I will take over the interrogation. Walk, now." He instructed.

"That's a good idea. Come on." Skylar grabbed my arm, pushing me out of the tunnel. I pulled away from her, not stopping until I was leaning against the cyberdesk.

"What is going on?" I whispered to myself, not able to understand this at all. It was like I was caught in some kind of loop, repeating the same...forty-two minutes (if the time on the cyberdesk was correct) for the third time.

"Look, I get that you're upset, but freaking out at Carson isn't going to help, and not listening to Chase or Alivia when they tell you to take it down a notch isn't either." Skylar criticized.

"Whatever." I muttered.

"You looked like you were going to kill him in there, Rani." She told me. I stared at her and suddenly felt my chest tighten and my breathing get a little harsher.

"I need some air." I muttered, pushing past her and heading for the hyperlift. As soon as I got to the main floor, I ran out onto the veranda, gripping the edges of the barrier. "Okay, what the actual hell is happening? I didn't even use my magic that time!" I turned around and slid down the barrier until I was sitting on the ground, facing the penthouse kitchen. I watched the others for a bit - Oliver looking for something to eat, Bree carrying Noah off to the bathroom with a clean, unused diaper in her hand, Jaden and Skylar grabbing computers to research Carson, and Kaz and Dani heading upstairs to do their own thing. After a few minutes, I felt myself calm down.

Okay, clearly something went wrong when I cast that spell earlier. And clearly, Carson found a way to contact S.H.I.R.T. without using the cyberdesk, otherwise MISS would know about it. But I couldn't just tell the others what would happen - it took me far too long to convince Alivia and Calla last time, and the only reason I was able to do so was because Carson escaped. Telling them he would and then him doing it was so far the only proof I had, but that only left a little more than ten minutes before S.H.I.R.T. would come for us, and that wasn't enough time to figure out a plan. Oh, what was I going to do.

I rubbed my eyes tiredly, trying to think if there was anyone in here that would believe me without proof. Oliver and Skylar were both nos, and I suspected that Bree and Jaden would be too. Calla and Alivia had already proven to be too skeptical to believe me without proof, and I suspected that Chase would follow suit. That really only left two people.

"Dani." I muttered to myself, pushing myself off the ground and started walking into the penthouse. She would believe me, right? She trusted me more than anyone else did here, surely she would be on my side.

I walked past the rest of the team and jogged up the stairs, going two at a time and not stopping until I'd reached Dani and Skylar's bedroom. The door was cracked a bit, just enough for me to realize that she wasn't alone in the room.

"...I just think that now might not be the best time for this, Kaz." Dani was saying. I frowned and slid close to the wall, unashamedly eavesdropping on them.

"You didn't think that yesterday." Kaz argued, his tone hurt.

"Yesterday, we thought Liam was back." Dani pointed out.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kaz questioned, voicing my thoughts out loud.

"I just...Rani just got him and lost him again in less than a day. That's got to hurt, even if she's acting more angry than sad right now. I don't want to make things even worse for her by going public right after." Dani explained. I raised my head, finally understanding why she'd been pulling away from him earlier.

"So, you want to break up again? Because of Rani?" Kaz questioned incredulously. "Look, I feel sorry for her and all, but haven't we lost enough time together?"

"I didn't say we should break up. I want to be with you, of course I do." Dani rushed to reassure him. "I just don't want to go around bragging about it."

Kaz was quiet for a moment. Then: "You want to secretly date again?"

"Would it be the worst thing in the world? We've done it before, and frankly, it was a hell of a lot less complicated before Future You ratted us out."

"You...That's very true, actually." Kaz chuckled in agreement. I heard Dani laugh a little herself.

"I just know that if I were in Rani's shoes, and she and Liam had just revealed that they were together while I had no idea if I was going to see you again, it would hurt. A lot." Dani insisted. "She's my friend, Kaz, and I don't want to hurt her even more than she already is."

"How in the world are you two such good friends?" Kaz questioned.

"No one knows. It just happened." Dani admitted, and I couldn't help but smile in agreement at her words.

"Rani!" I heard Alivia shout my name from downstairs. Swearing under my breath, I slipped Calla and Chase's bedroom, confident that I could still hear Kaz and Dani's conversation between the thin walls and still hide from Alivia in one of the only places she wouldn't actually search.

Kaz and Dani had paused their conversation, waiting to see if Alivia would come upstairs to check for me, but when the Irish hero apparently stayed on the main floor, Dani spoke up. "So? We have our fun, but in secret? At least until we find the others?"

"Fine, on one condition." Kaz agreed.

"We have to tell Ollie?" Dani guessed. Kaz must have nodded, because she continued a moment later. "Agreed. We don't want a repeat of last time."

"No we do not." Kaz agreed. "Okay. We'll do this. I just hope we find them soon, because I am not looking for having to pretend not to be into you around the others."

"I hope so too." Dani hummed in response.

"I'm going to have to pretend that I don't want to do this." Kaz continued, his tone turning sly. I heard Dani let out a soft laugh.

"Oh, yeah?" She asked, her voice softer this time. I frowned, listening as she laughed again before humming in pleasure. "Oh, and I'm going to have to pretend that I don't want to do this."

When I heard the squeak of the coils in her mattress, I knew it was time I get out of there. I started to slowly sneak downstairs, thinking that maybe I could try Oliver and hope he'd believe me when MISS spoke up.

_ "I'm sorry to interrupt, but there appears to have been a breach in the holding facility."  _ MISS announced suddenly.  _"The prisoner has escaped and while Mister Chase is in the process of attempting to detain him once again, he may be in need of some assistance."_

"Here we go again." I muttered to myself before jogging down the stairs. I slid into the hyperlift just after the others, squeezing in between Alivia and Oliver.

"Where were you?" Alivia questioned sharply.

"You don't want to know." I replied as the hyperlift sent us shooting down into mission command.

** Xxx **

"Enough." This time, the sharp yank on my arm, dragging me back to the holding cell area, was a welcome one. "Rani! Calm down!"

"Got it." I replied, looking Chase in the eyes. He looked at me carefully, having been prepared for a fight, then let go of my arm. I raised my hand to my forehead, feeling a wave of dizziness come over me. Whether or not I was intentionally using the magic that kept dragging me back here again and again, it was starting to take a toll on me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm going to take a walk." I decided, pushing away from him and heading down the tunnel to mission command. I stopped at the cyberdesk, leaning on it heavily. This time loop was draining me of my power and I could feel the toll starting to build up. I needed to figure a way out of this, and fast. "MISS?"

_ "Yes, Miss Rani?" _  The AI replied instantly. I sighed.

"Is there a way to send a message from the holding cell area? Any way at all? Emphasis on at all - if Carson can get a bird to tap out a morse code message on a tree from here, I want to know."

_ "There is no way for Carson to send a message from the cell. He is free of any technical devices, as confirmed by Misters Chase and Kaz's search of him, nor does he have any type of communication outside of the team." _  MISS assured me.

"If that changes, let me know." I sighed. We had to be missing something, I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"Hey." I glanced over my shoulder as Skylar followed me into the room. "What was that back there?"

"Please, Skylar. Stop." I sighed deeply, already having had this conversation too many times.

"No." She refused. "Look, I get that you're upset, but freaking out at Carson isn't going to help-"

"And not listening to Chase or Alivia when they tell me to take it down a notch isn't either." I finished. She looked at me, a little caught of guard by my interruption. "Skylar, I need you to back off, okay?"

"You looked like you were going to kill him in there, Rani." She told me.

"Well, I'm about two minutes away from actually killing him, Skylar." I retorted bluntly. The truth was, I was ready to do it. This time loop was driving me nuts, and I knew I couldn't keep it up for much longer. Killing Carson would solve the problem, surely. If I couldn't figure it out by the next loop, I would kill him in his cell and deal with the consequences after.

"Heroes don't kill." Skylar argued.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I used to be a villain." I snapped. Skylar looked at me appraisingly.

"What, you miss being evil?" She challenged.

"Well, as opposed to heroes, we actually got results." I replied.

"Aside from ending up in jail?" She questioned. I nodded.

"Oh yeah. If I were still on the other side of things, I guarantee you we would have found the others by now. I mean, look at things I was able to do under Dr. Wrath's tutorage..." I stopped myself, something occurring to me. "Seriously?"

"What?" Skylar demanded, confused. I rubbed my eyes tiredly.

"I just figured out...you know what? It doesn't matter." Why bother telling her how Carson was still alive when the hour was just going to repeat itself anyway. I sighed. "I swear, today is the longest day of my life."

"Just because you're having a bad day doesn't mean you get to take it out on the rest of us."

"A bad day?" I repeated incredulously, staring at the alien. "I think that's a bit of understand. You - you don't even know."

"I get it, about getting false hope for Liam, but you've been through way worse than this." Skylar reminded me. I pinched the bridge of my nose, then shook my head.

"I'm not talking about Liam. I mean, that wasn't a great start to things, but...this isn't about him. This is about - ugh!" I screamed in frustration.

"You want to explain what 'ugh' is?" Skylar questioned, crossing her arms. I shook my head.

"Why bother, you won't believe me. You guys never believe me." I'd already tried to tell them, but either they were too busy to be interrupted, or they were too skeptical of what I was saying to believe me until it was too late.

"Try me." Skylar said. I looked at her, then sighed.

"Uh, you know that episode of Supernatural where Sam keeps reliving the same day over and over again because of Gabriel? Well, my day's kinda been like that, but instead of it ending with a Winchester dying, the penthouse gets attacked and we all die." I summarized. Skylar frowned.

"I've never watched Supernatural." She admitted.

"What is wrong with you?" I demanded, staring at her.

"But, I have seen the movie Groundhog Day, and what you're saying sounds an awfully lot like that." She continued. "It was about a guy who kept reliving the same day over and over again. He was stuck in a time loop until he learned to be a good person or something."

"Yes!" I grabbed her shoulders desperately. "I mean, it's the same forty-two minutes over and over again and I don't know about if this has to do with whether or not I'm a good person, but the time loop thing, yeah."

"Okay. How?" She asked, confused.

"A tactical team of armed people - agents of S.H.I.R.T., if I had to guess - are going to break in here within the hour. The first time they did, I cast a spell to rewind a couple of minutes - the fight had gone bad, I didn't have another choice - but somehow it brought me back forty-two minutes instead. And I keep repeating the same forty-two minutes over and over again."

"Why forty-two?" Skylar questioned. I raised my hands helplessly. "Okay, so you have no idea how you got into this loop?"

"None. Wait," I frowned, realizing something, "you actually believe me?"

"I mean, it's not the first time that time travel has messed with our life and to be honest, with this group, a time loop was only a matter of time." She shrugged. "Why? Has no one else believed you so far?" I shook my head at that. "Rani, how many times have you done this?"

"Nineteen." I answered. She leaned back, an almost horrified look on her face. "And it always, always, ends the same."

"With S.H.I.R.T. agents attacking us?" She confirmed. I nodded.

"They storm the penthouse. I never finish the fight before being brought back, but one of us always dies. Alivia, Kaz, Bree...the rest of you are always down here when the attack happens, but even the couple of times I've managed to be in mission command when it happens, they've gotten down here too. Through the tunnels, through the front door, it doesn't matter. They always get in, they always beat us."

"Okay, calm down. Let's figure this out, okay? Maybe we can evacuate the penthouse before the attack." Skylar suggested.

"That would require them actually believing me." I pointed out. Skylar pressed her lips together in a thin line.

"And no one does? Not even Dani?" She asked.

"Oh, please. She's too busy getting it on with Kaz for me to even talk to." I replied. Skylar raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh yeah, that's secretly a thing. But no, one believes me. Well, Calla and Alivia do, eventually, but by that point, we don't get out of here in time. The tactical team is already on its way through the tunnels and through the main door of the building."

"Okay, then we have to stop the attack from happening. Carson must be calling for help, we just have to stop him - why are you shaking your head?" She questioned, cutting herself off.

"He's not contacting them. I thought he managed to get a message across when he broke out-"

"When did he break out?" Skylar interrupted me. I glanced at my phone.

"In about...26 minutes." I replied. "He breaks out and gets to the computer. I think he tried to get a message across, but he never gets the chance. I've looked at every possible way for him to get a message out, and there's nothing."

"Then...maybe someone else?" Skylar was running out of ideas. "Someone else could have contacted them."

"You think someone on the team would side with S.H.I.R.T.?" I questioned incredulously. She shook her head.

"No, but...there has to be some explanation. AJ, maybe? I can see him choosing family over friends." She suggested. I shook my head.

"Calla is going to call him twice within the next hour, but she'll never manage to get ahold of him and she doesn't leave a message, so he's got nothing to tip him off."

"Well, there has to be something...Could they have a listening device on him?" She offered. I shook my head.

"The boys searched him. And besides, any listening would have been fried from the ESD thing Calla and Dani did, just like the cyber mask." I reasoned.

"Yeah, but a loss in signal would be just as much a warning to them as a direct call for help. Still, if they searched him..." She sighed, unsure of what to think next.

"Wait, what if they do have a bug?" I questioned, latching onto what she had said.

"You said they searched him though." She pointed out.

"Yeah, but Faith and Jessica have both been in this apartment. They could have bugged us at any time." I said excitedly. Yes, this had to be it. There had to be a bug somewhere in here, it was the only way that S.H.I.R.T. could know that we'd busted Carson.

"Uh, yeah. That actually makes sense." Skylar nodded to herself, then looked at me. "I think Calla's got to have a couple of bug sweepers around here somewhere. Wanna help me find them?"

"Well, it's better than watching Jaden play Peek-A-Boo with Noah for sixteen minutes straight."

Skylar smiled, then led me into the equipment room to try and track down those electronic device scanners of Calla's. Soon enough, we found ourselves scouring the living room and kitchen area in search of any devices that Jessica or Faith may have 'left' behind. The others thought we were crazy, but left us to our work, deciding not to interfere.

_ "I'm sorry to interrupt, but there appears to have been a breach in the holding facility." _  MISS announced eventually, just like before.  _"The prisoner has escaped and while Mister Chase is in the process of attempting to detain him once again, he may be in need of some assistance."_

The others all exchanged looks and started heading for the hyperlift. I grabbed Skylar's arm, stopping her. "We'll catch up." I called, shaking my head at her to let her know that we were staying behind. Neither Oliver nor Bree argued with us, instead heading straight down. Kaz and Dani raced down the stairs a couple of minutes later, Kaz hastily buttoning up his shirt. Neither one of them noticed us, instead heading straight down to Mission Command.

"Are you sure?" Skylar looked at me, confused.

"Oh yeah. Between Ollie and Chase, they've already taken care of Carson." I assured her, having already been through too many variations of that fight to even be slightly concerned about his escape. I sighed. "The problem is, the agents are already on their way now."

"We can't escape in time?" Skylar questioned. I shook my head and she swore. "How sure are you that you'll repeat today again?"

"Well, this is the twentieth time I've been in the loop and I still don't know how to get out of it, so pretty sure." I told her. She nodded thoughtfully and continued searching for the bugs, ducking under the kitchen table to check there while I grabbed a stool to check on top of the fridge.

"Then let's find the bug now so you know where to look next time." She decided. "I just hope you're right about this loop."

"Twenty times Skylar. I don't think I could stop it if I tried." I assured her.

"What exactly happened anyway?" She questioned.

"I told you. I used the spell, and it just keeps happening." I replied, scowling when my search on top of the fridge came up empty.

"No, I mean. What happened exactly? Did you do anything differently during the fight? Were you just using magic, or did you mix your powers in there?"

"Powers and magic, but I've done that plenty of times before without this happening." I replied, climbing down and beginning to check through the cupboards. "I did beat a guy with a hunk of metal, but I don't think that'd stick me in...what did you call it? Hedgehog Day?"

"Groundhog Day. And what hunk of metal?" She asked, climbing out from under the table just as Kaz and Bree came back up.

"Thanks for the help guys." Kaz told us, annoyed, as he placed the piece of Calla's device on the table.

"That hunk of metal." I replied, pointing at the device. "Where's Alivia?"

"She stayed downstairs to help Oliver guard Carson, who we caught without your help." Bree told us, equally annoyed that neither Skylar or I answered the call for help. She bent down in front of Noah, who was lying on his blanket. "Hey, bug."

"Wait, you beat a guy up with this?" Skylar grabbed the piece of the device. I nodded, scanning the inside of the cupboard. "Were you holding this when you cast the spell?"

"What spell?" Kaz asked, confused.

"Uh, maybe? Yeah, actually, I think so." I ignored him and looked over at Skylar. "Why?"

"It's a device made to amplify the affects of other devices, like Calla's tracker. Maybe that's why your spell over did it so much - it was just overly amplified." She suggested. I looked at her, surprised that I hadn't thought of that myself.

"Yeah, actually...yeah, that makes sense." I agreed.

"What spell?" Kaz repeated his question. Bree picked Noah up in her arms and walked over to us, a confused look on her face.

"What is going on? I expected Rani to be acting a little crazy with everything that's going on with Carson, no offense, but Skylar, you too?" She questioned. I looked at her, indeed offended, but Skylar stopped me from responding.

"We think that S.H.I.R.T. had either Jess or Faith put a bug in the apartment." She explained.

"What in the world would give you that idea?" Bree questioned, confused.

"Rani's got herself stuck in a magical time loop." Skylar replied simply. Kaz cracked a smile, amused, while Bree just looked at us skeptically.

"I don't think that's actually possible..." She trailed off.

"See? I told you they wouldn't believe me!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands out in frustration. However, that's when the scanner started to beep, alerting us to the presence of a small electronic device. And my wand was right in front of Kaz.

"Uh...Kaz? Anything you want to tell us?" I asked, looking at him closely. He frowned and shook his head. I slowly waved the scanner over him, frowning when it began to beep as it passed over his hands.

"Hey, give me your watch." Bree requested, holding her hand out. He twisted his wrist, unlatching it. "Is that the one Jessica gave you?"

"Yeah, but she wouldn't...no..." Kaz trailed off as Bree popped open the back of the watch, revealing a small, black button-like object. She dropped it into her hand, frowning. "Is that a bug? Like a listening bug?"

"Yeah. It's fried though. Calla and Dani's ESD must have destroyed it." She realized.

"That explains why my watch hasn't been working since." Kaz frowned. He looked at us. "But that's good right? They can't hear us anymore."

"Yeah, but they heard everything beforehand, and they must know that we captured him." Skylar pointed out. She looked at me, eyes wide. "You were right."

"We need to get out of here. They'll be coming for him." Bree realized. I shook my head.

"It's too late." I murmured. Kaz opened his mouth to ask why, when the door burst open and armed men and women, all dressed in black and silver uniforms, came charging in.

"MISS, get everyone up here, now!" Kaz ordered, raising his hand to send a stream of fire towards the intruders.

Skylar charged at them, dropping to her knees as they pulled out their weapons. She slid towards them, kicking her leg out at the last second to knock a couple of them off her feet.

Bree and I, meanwhile, took shelter behind the couch. There was no point in actually fighting - it would all reset in a second.

"Are you really caught in a time loop?" Bree demanded, looking at me with a serious stare. I nodded.

"Yes." I told her. She nodded.

"Okay. When this restarts again, tell Chase 'smashed guitar' and that we need to have a team meeting." She instructed.

"Smashed guitar?" I repeated. She nodded.

"He'll know what you mean." She promised. "Smashed guitar, you got it?"

I nodded and she pushed Noah into my arms. "Protect him." She ordered before speeding out into the fight. I tightened my grip on the infant, took a deep breath and –

** Xxx **

"Enough." Once again, Chase yank sharply on my arm to pull me away from Carson, turning me to face him. "Rani! Calm down!"

I stepped away from him, feeling lightheaded. The room spun around me for a second before finally settling. "Team meeting." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

"Are you okay?" Chase asked, concerned. I shook my head, then cleared my throat.

"We need to have a team meeting, right now." I announced.

"I think it can wait." Alivia told me, her tone stern. I shook my head, instantly regretting it when the room started to look unsteady.

"No." I mumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose to try and make myself focus. I looked back up at Chase. "We need to have a team meeting about a smashed guitar."

He frowned at me, confused, and I cursed silently to myself. Bree said he would understand!

To my surprise, after glancing at Bree, Jaden, and Calla, he nodded. "Everyone, mission command. Team meeting."

"What's this about a smashed guitar?" Dani questioned, confused, as we walked out into mission command.

"It's a code phrase of ours." Calla explained, giving me a confused look as she sat down at the cyberdesk.

"It means that what I'm about to say is going to sound psychotic but I need you to trust me anyway." Jaden explained.

"Why do you have the words 'smashed guitar' as your code phrase?" Alivia questioned, confused.

"Marcus." Calla growled, a far away look of hatred clouding her gaze.

"Who told you the code phrase?" Bree questioned, looking at me.

"You did." I told her sincerely. She frowned and shook her head.

"No I didn't." She replied. I nodded.

"You kinda did." I insisted.

"Rani," Chase called my attention back to him. He leaned on the cyberdesk next to Calla, "what is going on?"

"S.H.I.R.T. is on its way here. I don't know if they have capture or kill orders, but they aren't afraid to do the latter. They know we have Carson, and there's going to be too many of them for us to fight, so we need to leave right now." I told them.

"How could you possibly know this?" Skylar asked.

"You guys know that old movie, Groundhog day?" I questioned. "I'm stuck in a timeloop just like that and I know how this ends; with some or maybe all of us getting killed by S.H.I.R.T."

"Are you serious?" Kaz asked, staring at me.

"One hundred percent." I assured him.

"That's not possible, is it?" Bree asked, glancing at her sister-in-law. Calla frowned.

"How did this happen?" She asked, not answering Bree's question yet.

"I cast a spell meant to take me back two minutes while holding your broken amplifier. I'm guessing that amplified my abilities and sent me back to a couple of minutes ago, likely because that was the last time I'd used my magic before I cast the rewind spell." I explained.

"It was broken?" Calla questioned, frowning. I nodded.

"You really need to make thing like that more durable." I replied. She gave me a look.

"The magic might be caught in the wiring." She decided. She glanced at the others. "That's why Rani and I have been having so much trouble combining my tech with her spells; the magic seems to coat it or something." She turned back to me. "How many times have you been through the loop? Has it broken every time?"

"This is the twenty-first, and yeah, it has." I confirmed.

"You believe you?" Oliver questioned, looking at Calla in surprise. Much to my relief, Calla nodded.

"Yeah, I do. And you must have too," she nodded at Bree, "otherwise you'd have no reason to give her the code phrase. Look, Rani, I think that if we don't let this get broken, it might not reactivate the spell that's keeping you in the loop."

"I certainly hope so, but right now, we need to leave." I insisted.

"Grab your things." Chase told the others. I let out a sigh of relief as they listened, Bree speeding upstairs to retrieve Noah from the living room. Chase turned to me. "How does S.H.I.R.T. know?"

"They bugged Kaz." I told him. Kaz stopped at the sound of his name. "Your watch, there's a bug in the back."

"No there isn't." He frowned, taking it off and pulling off the back cover. His eyes widened as he pulled out the tiny, fried, electrical device. "Jessica bugged me?"

"It's dead, thanks to Calla and Dani's ESD, but they heard everything before it cut out." I warned Chase. He nodded.

"Okay, you're right. We need to get out of here." He agreed with me. I couldn't help but smile, grateful that, even if the time loop continued, not all the versions of this day would end in tragedy.

** Xxx **

"Thanks for letting us stay here, Horace." Oliver thanked the doctor as we all settled ourselves in the staff lounge.

"Of course. You say you've found the people who've taken Spotlight, Scarlet Ace, and the bionic heroes?" He questioned. Alivia nodded.

"More like they found us, but yeah." She confirmed as Chase walked back into the room.

"So, how is the mayor?" I asked, smirking when he stopped short.

"Uh...fine." He replied. I smirked, amused by his reaction to my knowledge of his call.

"The mayor called?" Calla questioned, confused.

"Yes, I'll talk to you about it later. I also got on the phone with Mr. Davenport and Douglas. They're going to send some extra security software and specs to the penthouse so we can up its security. I figure, once S.H.I.R.T. gets Carson back, they'll stay away, but it's better to be safe than sorry. We should be able to go back home in a couple of days though. Thank you, Doctor Diaz, for letting us stay here in the meantime."

"Like I said to Oliver, you're all more than welcome here." Horace gave him a smile before walking away to continue on his rounds.

"Okay, so we know that S.H.I.R.T. is behind this. Why don't we go after them?" Bree questioned, returning from the kitchen area of the room with a warmed bottle of formula. Jaden handed her their son and she began to feed Noah. "If they've got a tactical team out looking for us, then their base should be less protected than usual, right?"

"We don't know for sure that Lily and the others are being held at S.H.I.R.T. They could have other facilities that we don't know about. We need all the details before we go rushing in." Alivia reasoned. I sighed. "I know, I want them back too, but we can't be reckless about it."

"I don't suppose your timeloop thing gave you any more useful information?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, actually." I nodded. "I figured out how Carson's alive. Magic."

"I thought he was just being sarcastic." Dani frowned, confused. "I didn't realize there were spells powerful enough to bring back the dead."

"Oh, there are. I've used one before." I reminded her.

"Dr. Wrath." Alivia realized, looking at me. I nodded.

"All he would need is a powerful enough energy source and a part of Carson's body. I managed it with a dark talisman and Dr. Wrath's ashes." I explained to the others. "Carson couldn't have done it himself though; that means there is someone seriously involved with magic working with him."

"Bosetti you think?" Skylar asked. I shook my head.

"I have no idea." I admitted. I sighed tiredly. "I just really hope this timeloop business is over."

"Do we know for sure that it is?" Oliver questioned.

"I'm afraid to check the time, to be honest." I admitted. I kept wanting to see if we'd passed the time that the timeloop usually reset at, but a part of me was afraid that if I did, I'd get sucked back into the loop.

"It's 3:08 PM." Skylar told me, checking her phone. I let out a deep sigh, falling back on the couch.

"Thank God." I nearly cried.

"I'll take that as a 'we broke the loop'." Calla commented teasingly, rubbing her lower back with a grimace on her face. Oh, I did not envy her - being pregnant looked like it sucked all around. I mean, sure, the miracle of child birth was supposed to be worth it, but it definitely had its cons.

"I can't believe you got trapped in Groundhog Day." Kaz chuckled. He reached forward suddenly, grabbing his IPad. "You know, I should see if that's on Netflix; we should watch it for movie night some time."

"No!" I snapped quickly. He chuckled, typing in the website name on the IPad. "Oh, I did learn one thing during the loop; Kaz and Dani are together again. Sorry to ruin the secret."

Kaz and Dani exchanged looks, equally surprised that I knew about it. "What?" Oliver turned to look at his best friend and his sister.

"It's been like a day. We weren't keeping it a secret. We just...we didn't want to..." Dani trailed off.

"Guys?" Kaz interrupted, but I ignored him.

"You didn't want to rub it in my face, I get it." I assured her. "But seriously, it's fine."

"Guys?" Kaz said again, louder. We all looked at him. He looked up from the IPad, a worried look on his face. "I think someone hacked into our Netflix."

Before any of us could question why this was such a concern, he turned the IPad to show us. On the profile screen where the different profiles had previously been named 'Calla', 'Chase', 'Kaz', 'Oliver', and 'Skylar', there were new profile names. Names that read 'HELP I'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED', 'SHIRT IS EVIL', 'AT SHIRT BASE', 'WITH SL, SA, K9 & S1', and 'HELP, AJ'.

"I think that answers where our friends are." I commented dryly, eyes not leaving the fourth profile's name.

"Guys?" Chase looked at us seriously. "Suit up."


	12. Break and Entry

** Miles' POV **

I was in the middle of going through a stack of paperwork on my desk when I heard a knock on my office door. "Hey." I looked up to see Jessica standing in the open doorway. "Can we – are you busy?"

"Not really. No one's here, so I'm pretty much just going through all the back-logged reports." I replied, leaning back in my chair. I could tell right off the bat that something was up – Jessica was biting her lip, as if she were nervous about something, and there was something in her eyes. I couldn't put a name to the exact emotion – some sort of cross between sad and worried. "What's up?"

"No one's here?" Jessica repeated, frowning in confusion.

"Well, it's actually just the tactical team that's gone, but it seems like a lot. They're out on a tactical training exercise – Agent Graham's idea. Now, what did you need?" I asked again, not allowing her to change the topic. She hesitated. "Jessica, what is it?"

"I…" She licked her lips, glancing over her shoulder before dropping into a chair in front of my desk and covering her hands with her face. She said something else, but it was muffled.

"You wanna say that again? This time maybe while looking up?" I questioned, putting my pen down. She didn't move for a second, then raised her head.

"I think I made a mistake." She said slowly, taking care in choosing her words.

"I'm sure whatever you did wasn't that bad. Go talk to Graham when he gets back from the exercise – I'm sure he'll help you get out of it." Graham could be kind of a jackass when he wanted to be, but Jessica was his protégé; I'd be surprised if he didn't give her a hand the one time she'd screwed up around here.

"No, I…I did something. Well, no, I  _helped_ do something, and…" She took a deep breath before starting over. "Have you ever done something, and, at the time you thought you were doing the right thing, but in hindsight, you realized that you were wrong? Like, really wrong?"

"Wrong how?" I inquired, confused as to what she was talking about. From what she'd said and from the solemn tone of her voice, it didn't seem like this was some minor screw up. "Jessica, what did you do?"

Jessica opened her mouth to reply, when suddenly, there was a high pitch sound, then an explosion, seeming to come from the other end of the facility.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded, standing up at my desk. I started out of the office, as it was my job to secure this place. An explosion could just be one of the scientists screwing up - Faith had always had a particular liking for explosions - or something similar, but more likely, there was something seriously wrong.

Before I could go to check it out, however, Jessica grabbed my arm, stopping me. "Wait." She told me, eyes wide.

"Uh, can this wait? There's kind of an emergency happening." I demanded, glancing out my door to where agents were racing towards the source of the explosion.

"No, it can't." She insisted. I hesitated, then, after seeing the expression on her face and seeing how many of the agents were going to deal with the explosion, I sighed.

"Fine, but make it quick." I instructed.

** Chase's POV **

"Well, it looks like Kaz, Skylar, and Dani's distraction went according to plan." Oliver chuckled to himself, watching through my holographic screen as S.H.I.R.T. agents raced towards the source of the explosions. We were carefully hidden in the water passage underneath the floor plates of B-level 2, using my holo-projector to watch the guards until we knew it was safe to go in.

"They're just beginning too." Alivia added, cocking her head to the side a little as she silently communicated with the duplicate that was helping the three of them keep the attention of the agents locked on themselves. "They're planning on setting off a few more minor explosives before using that signal blocker that Calla gave them."

I nodded to myself. "Good. As soon as they set that off, then the agents won't be able to call for help when they realize who is attacking their base." I tapped my comm. "Hey babe, we're going to go dark soon."

_ "Alright. Be careful." _  Calla warned, sounding just a little frustrated. She'd suggested the blocker, knowing it was a good idea, but the fact that she was currently stuck at Mighty Med, waiting for us to get back was no doubt infuriating to her. But with her being nearly 9 months pregnant and all, coming out here, even to save our friends, wasn't an option for her.  _"Grab AJ and get out. No wasting time. Bree, Rani, and Alivia's other duplicate will get the others."_

"We know, Calla." Oliver rolled his eyes at her worrying. "Jaden have an update on the agents they sent after us?"

_ "They just arrived at the penthouse." _  Calla replied.  _"He's going to stalk the place out until they leave. I'll send…"_ She cut off for a moment, and I thought that maybe the comms had gone out, but then a minute later she continued.  _"Uh, sorry. What was I saying? Right, I'll send a ping to Chase and Bree's chips to let you know when it's safe to go home."_

"Calla, what was that? You okay?" I asked, concerned by the sudden pause. She hadn't been feeling well before we left, but she'd insisted that it was just cramps and evening sickness and that I worried too much. All of that was probably true, but I still couldn't help but worry about her.

" _Yeah, it's just cramps. I'm_ -" The comms fizzled out just then.

"They activated the blocker." Alivia told us, confirming that everything was going according to plan for now. She glanced at me. "She's fine, Chase."

"Right, yeah." I nodded, then shook my head to clear it. I needed to focus. "Time to move." I declared, waiting a moment for the holoscreen to show that the hallway was clear before activated my plasma bo. I raised it into the metal plating as Oliver braced it on his shoulders. I quickly cut a hole big enough in the plating for us to crawl through and Oliver lifted it out of our way. Alivia climbed through ahead of us, immediately darting towards the nearby wall to look for incoming agents.

"We've got three incoming!" She hissed, sliding closer to the wall. I dropped back down into the area below, while Oliver prepared for an incoming attack.

The agents charged into the hallway, but judging by the way they froze upon seeing Oliver, they'd been rushing towards the source of the explosion instead of coming to attack a set of intruders.

"Stop!" One of them shouted, raising his weapon. His fellow agents followed suit. Oliver raised his hands and a wave of ice shot out of his hands. One of the agents dropped down to avoid it, while the other two darted to opposite sides to try and outflank him. Having seen Faith and Miles' agents do this before, Alivia and I had been expecting it; the moment they moved, Alivia and I launched into action. Alivia leapt out of the shadows at the agent, tackling him from behind while I raised my hand and used my telekinesis to grab ahold of her legs and pull her down into the hole with me. The sudden movement caught her off guard and I took advantage of her surprise, quickly knocking her out before levitating myself out of the hole. By the time I got back out there, Alivia was standing over the unconscious body of another agent, while Oliver was just finishing freezing the one that had attacked him.

"Well, that was easy." Oliver commented smugly. I rolled my eyes, knowing that getting out of here would be worse than coming in.

"Let's just find AJ, shall we?" I suggested, gesturing towards the hall.

"Rani, Bree, and Skylar have reached B-level 3. They should be reaching the others soon." Alivia mentioned, passing me by as she headed past me down the empty hall. Oliver pushed past her though, turning the corner and shooting ice from his hands. Alivia and I raced to catch up, only to see that Oliver had used his icicles to pin the two guards to the wall, preventing them from calling for help or attacking us before they could even think to do so.

"Nice." Alivia complimented, grabbing the doorknob and trying to turn it. She frowned when the knob wouldn't turn. "It's locked from the inside."

I pounded on the door, and a scared but angry voice responded. "I have a weapon!" AJ threatened.

"A, there's no way they'd give you a weapon and B, it's us, man." I told him. A moment passed, then the door clicked as he unlocked the door. The door opened up to show AJ, holding up a book as a weapon. "Seriously?"

"It's been a long couple of days." He argued, even as he gave us all a relieved smile.

"Tell us about it." Alivia rolled her eyes. "You ready to get out of here?"

"Oh, you're not going anywhere." We spun around to see Faith Parker standing at the end of the hall, a long, black weapon in her hands. She lifted a walkie-talkie to her mouth, watching us with wary eyes.

"The idiots on the main floor aren't our only intruders. There are three on B-level 2. Be warned: there may be more on the premises, possibly heading for B-level 4." She released the walkie-talkie, letting it swing by its cord before adjusting her weapon to aim it at us. "You're finished."

** Rani's POV **

Bree, Alivia, and I stopped suddenly as a loud, blaring alarm sounded off throughout the floor. "I don't think the distraction worked as well as we hoped it would."

"It's Faith." Alivia explained, getting some of her information from one of her other duplicates. "She caught me, Chase, and Oliver just as we reached AJ."

"It doesn't matter. We knew it wouldn't last for long." We'd hoped that the series of explosions would keep everyone's attention focused on Skylar, Kaz, and Dani, at least until we could make sure that the others were out of wherever S.H.I.R.T. was holding them (or even better, back at Mighty Med 2.0., especially if any of them were injured), but it looked like that wasn't going to happen. Still, their outright assault on the underground base would still be the agents' main focus, which was the idea, I supposed.

"Skylar, Kaz, and Dani are being overrun." Alivia announced, worriedly. She glanced at us. "I'd be more help to them if they had all my focus."

"Go. We'll be fine." Bree assured her, and Alivia's duplicate vanished. "That's so weird to see."

"You get used to it." I shrugged before looking down the two dark hallways. "I don't suppose you know which way we're going?"

"Let's see, shall we?" Bree smirked before speeding off down one of the halls. Barely a second passed before a blur of motion raced by me, heading down the other hall. Another second later, and she was skidding to a stop next to me. "Hall on the left has about seven guards protecting some door. Sounds like it's the place we wanna be."

"Definitely. But what's on the right?"

"A couple of agents who almost saw me, a security room, a janitor's closet, and what I think might have been Faith's lab." She replied. "But definitely no access to cells of any kind."

"Left it is then." I decided. Bree and I slowly crept through the hall, stopping when we heard the sounds of a few of the agents talking to one another.

"Okay, three are directly in front of the door, and two on either side of them." Bree whispered, giving me the layout. I nodded. "You take left, I get right, and then whoever's done first gets to deal with the middle guys?"

"You're on." I smirked before raising a hand. Our shadows twitched at my command, then slowly sunk back to hide directly underneath us, preventing them from giving us away prematurely to the guards as we slowly moved closer. I waited for Bree's signal - a simple nod, not even looking at me - before launching into action.

"Hey boys!" Bree called, getting their attention before speeding at one of them, slamming him into the nearby wall with her forearm at his throat. Meanwhile, I pulled at the guards' shadows, lifting them off the ground and then wrapping them around the guards' ankles. Unfortunately, this didn't entirely work the way I'd hoped, because even though their feet were immobilized, their hands certainly weren't. Before I had time to restrain their hands or arms, I was forced to pull the shadows around their feet to directly in front of me in order to shield myself from an array of incoming bullets. Damn, I hated it when people used real guns over blasters.

I pushed the shadow shield out at them, successfully knocking a few of the guards over before being forced to drop to the ground to avoid being shot by some of the other guards.

_ "Mutata obnubilatus ab metallum!" _  I called, raising my hand at their bullets. Much to my amusement, and to the guard's shock, the bullets turned from hardened metal to puffs of harmless mist in an instant.

I stumbled back, feeling the drain of the magic on me. I'd overtaxed myself with that timeloop business - using magic now wasn't a very good idea.

Bree sped forward past me, knocking one of the guards on their ass before darting back to my side. I raised my shadow shield up again, giving us a brief respite from the enemy. "We can't beat them like this." I told her breathlessly. She nodded.

"I think I have an idea." She replied. I smiled.

"Great! What is it?" I demanded. She thought about it for a second.

"Buy me time." She instructed. Before I could ask anything more about her plan, she sped off, leaving me to deal with the rest of the guards until her plan could be put into action.

"I hate speedsters." I muttered to myself before turning to face the guards.

** Chase's POV **

"Faith, think about this. Do you really want to kill us?" I questioned, subtly stepping in front of AJ. When Alivia suddenly disappeared with a barely a quick apology, Faith had startled, readjusting her grip on her weapon and aiming it right at us.

"I don't want you to escape." She replied. "Now stand down. If you surrender, maybe the boss will let you live."

"Maybe." I hummed, not believing her for a second. "Is this the same boss who sent armed gunmen to our home?"

"Perhaps." Faith smirked, clearly entertained by the thought. Then the smile faded from her face. "Now, do you want to do this the easy way, or the hard way?"

"Well, the easy way just isn't that much fun, now is it?" I retorted before glancing over my shoulder. "Oliver, get AJ out of here."

"Uh…" Oliver hesitated, glancing past me at Faith. "You sure about that?"

"I can handle her." I assured him. Faith let out a noise – half snort, half laughter. Oliver grabbed AJ's arm and went to lead him off to the side, but, unsurprisingly, Faith reacted quickly to their movement. She turned the weapon on them, finger twitching on the trigger, but clearly unwilling to shoot. I couldn't tell why - perhaps it was as simple as she didn't want to kill anybody, but more likely, she knew that AJ was important to Bosetti. Regardless, her hesitation gave me the chance to intervene, and I lunged at her, my plasma bo staff appearing in my hand as I moved.

Her attention snapped back to me, and this time, when she re-aimed her weapon at me, she pulled the trigger. Having already calculated that this would be her reaction, I spun my bo staff at the right moment to block the attack, the bo staff literally stopping the tiny ball of electricity in midair.

While all this was happening, AJ and Oliver disappeared, Oliver cleverly using my distraction to get the kid out of harm's way. Hopefully, they would be able to make it to Kaz, Alivia, Dani, and Skylar safely, but if not, I was more than confident that Oliver could defend the both of them.

"Faith, that's enough!" I flipped my bo staff into her hand and it knocked the weapon to the ground and gave her a small burn on her hand. She hissed in pain, pulling her hand back and giving me a furious look. "Why would you want to kill us? Calla and Jaden are your family!"

"You're kidding me, right?" She demanded, holding her hand. "No, you're not, are you? You'd never understand."

"What's there to understand? Family is family; you're supposed to stand with them, not against."

"Calla and Jaden made their choice. I made a different one - I made the right one." She retorted. Her face darkened as she continued. "I was in the St. Isidore Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia four years ago. I assume you know what happened?"

"I do." That had been the hospital for 'Normos' the hid the original Mighty Med.

"Do you know how many people died?" She questioned. "How many people lost a loved one because of some grudge match between your people?"

"They weren't bionic." I corrected instinctively. "And that's not exactly what happened."

"Bionic, mutant, alien, does it really matter? You're all 'super' and we're the 'Normos'. That's what they affectionately call us, right? The ones without powers?" Faith questioned, pacing slowly around me, but making sure to keep the exit behind her. By now, she'd have surely noticed Oliver and AJ's disappearance, but apparently, she could care less. "And that's exactly what happened. Some 'supers' got ticked off at others, and they killed nearly sixty 'Normos' in the process of getting revenge."

"That's tragic, it really is, but what does that have to do with this?" I questioned, adjusting my grip on my bo staff.

"Twelve of you did that. Twelve. All that damage, all those lives lost, all to twelve of you. There are nearly 80 more of you on this planet, and that number keeps growing. Imagine what you all of you could do to us."

"Those people who attacked the hospital, they were criminals. Terrorists, even. But not all of us are like them." I pointed out. She scoffed.

"Please. Give anyone a big enough weapon and a powerful enough reason, and they're capable of anything. You're a threat to us, Chase, maybe not now but one day." She insisted. "And this world will be so much safer without you in it."

"So you're just going to wipe us all out?" I challenged, shocked by her conviction to such an insane plan. "In case we become threats?"

"If I have to." She retorted. She glanced at her weapon on the ground, then tapped a metal bracelet on her wrist. A long bo staff made out of red plasma appeared in the palm of her hand. She smirked at my surprised expression. "I took eight years of Kenjutsu, Brainiac. Don't think beating me will be that easy."

** Rani's POV **

I dropped to my knees, raising my hands to shoot a wave of shadows towards the incoming guards. Two of them were knocked to the ground by it, but the others were smart, ducking behind two pillars on either side of the hall to avoid being taken out by my blast. I raised the shadows again, using them as a shield this time as they turned their own weapons on me.

These guys were good, better than the normal security guards we dealt with. We'd seriously underestimated what S.H.I.R.T.'s agents were capable of, and that was coming back to bite us in the ass. Well, more me than Bree - whatever her idea had been, she hadn't come back yet from putting it into place, and I was starting to worry.

I glanced past my shield to see one of the guards pull out a different looking weapon - a long, bronze gun that looked to be made of some serious tech. Still, it's not like their weapons mattered - nothing could penetrate my shadowy shield, regardless of whether they were using bullets, energy blasts, or hardened plasma. Shadows were impervious to everything, which I had to admit was one of my favorite things about them.

I spun around, forcing my shield outwards at them, smiling in satisfaction when it crashed into one of the guards. He hit the wall hard, then slid to the ground, unconscious. Finally! One down, four to go.

"Bitch!" I heard one of them shout and I once again brought my shield up, settling behind it while I prepared another attack. But then, the impossible happened.

"AH!" I cried out as a searing hot pain raced across my arm, a beam of pure light jutting out from my shield. I dropped the shield in reaction, stunned, and the guards took advantage. I dropped to my stomach, narrowly avoiding their weapons, then sent a shadowy wave at them. It didn't do much in the way of hurting them, but it did give me the chance to stagger back to my feet.

I saw the guard who'd insulted me raise his bronze weapon again. I reacted instantly, raising my hands to blast him before he could take me out. His blast came a second sooner than I expect and it crashed into my own shadow ball. The explosion that resulted from their collision was powerful, powerful enough to knock both of us back several feet. But instead of hitting the metal door like I expected, the door slid upwards into the ceiling at the last minute, allowing me to fall through it.

The air rushed from my lungs as I hit the hard ground, and for a moment, I blinked up at the ceiling, dazed. Then I heard a familiar voice.

"What, you just going to let them beat you, Shadow Girl?"

I barely had time to react to the voice before the guards came rushing into the room. I swung my legs over my head, rolling on my shoulder until I was on one knee, facing the guards. I thrust my hands forward, shooting out a blast of shadows, but not nearly as powerful as I had been shooting before.

Because now, it wasn't just the guards that I could end up hitting. Now that I'd somehow ended up inside the cell area - Bree's doing, if I had to guess - it put Lily, Kieran, Taylor, and Liam all at risk for being hit by my blows. The four of them were all as close to the electric cell bars as they dared, watching me face off against the guards. I could tell by some of their expressions that they wanted to help, but for the time being, all they could do was watch.

I raised my shadow shield again, this time backing far enough from it to avoid another close call with the guard's light weapon.

"Rani, down!" I heard Lily yell through the shield and I ducked, trusting her advice without needing to check. It was a good thing I listened too, for a couple of balls of light, roughly the size of baseballs, shot through my shield. Had I not dropped low when I did, they would have clocked me right in the head.

I stayed close to the ground, but spun around with one knee bent and the other outstretched, using the momentum to not only help direct a shadow ball towards the guards, but to add a little bit of strength to it as well. It hit one of the guards in the chest, knocking him back into the bars of Taylor's cell. The bionic girl let out a surprised noise, obviously not having realized he was there until the bars audibly sizzled when he hit it.

He fell to the ground, unconscious, and for a moment I was very pleased with myself before realizing that I still needed to take three of them out. It didn't seem possible - I was already exhausted and quickly running out of steam, and I'd managed to take out less than half of them. If I was going to win this, I needed a miracle.

Now, I don't actually believe in miracles - randomly, seemingly impossible, good things just happening to people for no good reason? That just didn't happen in this world. But I did believe in coincidences, and what happened next was the best possible coincidence I could have asked for.

Assuming it was Bree who had opened the door to let me in here the first time, she must have just figured out the controls for the cells, because suddenly, the electric bars didn't just deactivate, they disappeared. They slid into the ceiling above the others, and all hell broke loose.

** Chase's POV **

I spun around, spinning my bo staff towards Faith, only for her to sidestep the strike and attempt to slam her own bo staff into my stomach. I raised mine just in time to stop the blow in its tracks, but the bo staff still got close enough for it to singe the front on my mission uniform.

I darted backwards, spinning my bo staff in front of me to keep Faith from following. I was the last person to ever underestimate lab monkeys in their ability to fight, but she was still much better than I'd expected. Her style was very different than what Mr. Davenport had taught us - her movements were more fluid, almost like dance moves, and she kept her hands much closer together than I'd been taught to - and while I wasn't sure which technique was better, it certainly did show that she knew what she was doing.

I stood up straight, using the bionic computer in my head to try and analyze her fighting style to get some sort of advantage. "You had enough?" I called, hoping that a conversation in the middle of all this would distract her. No dice though - she just smirked and lunged at me, spinning her bo staff towards me. I raised mine to stop it, but she stopped at the last minute, turning on her heel to give her more momentum as she changed her attack to hit my in the leg. I stumbled back to avoid it, but she took advantage of that, stepping forward to continue her attack.

The bo staff skimmed my leg, but I pushed down the flash of pain and swung my own bo staff at her. It caught her in the shoulder and she let out a cry as she stumbled back, one hand reaching up to grasp her shoulder. She glowered at me hatefully. "You're done, bionic boy. You might as well give up now."

I smirked, but at the words 'Analysis complete' appearing on my internal monitor, rather than at her. Faith spun around to attack again, but this time, I was ready; my inner computer showing me a glowing line that represented the most likely direction for her attack to go. I sidestepped it, much like she had sidestepped my attack earlier, and slammed my elbow into her already hurt shoulder. She dropped to one knees and unexpectedly swung her bo staff out. Thankfully, because I was so close to her, she actually ended up hitting me with her forearms instead of the burning hot staff, but the blow was still sudden enough and strong enough to cause me to trip and fall.

I sprawled out on the ground next to the weapon Faith had abandoned earlier, my bo staff disappearing as it fell from my hands. "Sorry, Calla," Faith murmured from above me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw her bo staff raised right above my head, "but you'll forgive me one day."

I reached for Faith's abandoned weapon, rolled onto my back, and pulled the trigger just as she brought the bo staff down. Her strike missed, but the ball of electricity that came from the gun hit her dead on in the chest. The blast threw her backwards and she hit the ground with a thud. She didn't get up.

I cautiously walked over to her, uncertain if this was a trick, but when she didn't get up, I pressed the gun to her back and checked her pulse. She was still alive, just unconscious. I glanced at the weapon, then deciding that Calla would want to take a look at it, I took off, leaving Faith for Bosetti to find later.

** Rani's POV **

Lily and Kieran were the first to react, the former instantly using her telekinesis to shove the nearest guard into the bionic boy's waiting fist. Taylor, on the other hand, was a little slower to act, instead choosing strategy over speed. She slowly approached a guard, purposefully acting clumsy and clueless as to where she was to draw him in. It was his mistake though, because as soon as he reached for her, she grabbed his hand and twisted it painfully, bringing him down to his knees.

I faced off against the last remaining guard, the one with the light weapon, but this time, I was ready. When he tried to shoot me with a stream of rapid fire light blasts, I raised my hands, sending a shadowy shield towards it. From my left, Liam stepped in close, raising his hand to combine his light with my darkness. The two opposites hit the balls of light and overwhelmed them until our blast hit the gun. The power of my and Liam's combined forces destroyed the front of the weapon and sent the guard flying. I didn't bother to look where he hit though, knowing there was no way he was getting up from that blast.

I turned around to help Taylor with her opponent, but Bree beat me to the punch, speeding in at the last second to slam into the side of the guard. He stumbled backwards, stunned by her sudden, violent appearance, mistakenly allowing Taylor the chance to use her powers. She raised her hands and, using her telekinesis, brought the electric bars back down from where they'd been stored in the ceiling, not stopping until the cell was locked and closed.

"You-" The guard stammered, shocked. Taylor smirked, stepping close to the bars, her milky white eyes staring sightlessly into the cell.

"Let's see how you like it, shall we?" She teased, her tone smug.

"Well, glad you could come and help." I commented sarcastically, turning to Bree.

"What do you call this?" She retorted, gesturing vaguely at the others. Then something occurred to me.

"Rani!" Liam called out in surprised as I raised my hands and my shadows pushed him against the wall. "What the hell?"

"If they had one shapeshifter, they could have more." I pointed out, speaking more to Bree than anyone else. I wasn't about to let another imposter into our home. I wasn't going to fall for it again.

"We were together the entire time, Rani. I think we'd know if any of us were a fake." Lily pointed out. Liam squirmed under my shadow's grasp.

"Seriously, Shadows, let me go! Now!" He snapped, annoyed.

"Then prove that it's you." I replied calmly. He rolled his eyes.

"Geez, why'd I have to go and fall in love with the crazy one?" He muttered. I pushed harder on his chest with my shadows.

"Prove it." I insisted.

"Rani..." Bree warned, glancing at the unconscious guards around us. They could wake up at any moment, I knew that, but it was worth the risk to make sure we weren't bringing home another fake.

"Prove it." I repeated for the last time. Liam looked at me, then sighed.

"Alright, fine. Uh...uh...You, uh...Okay. Got it. Dani's smoothie mix keeps going missing. You blamed it on Angela, even though we both know it was you. You secretly love musicals, but you threatened to kill me if I ever told Barry, Dani, or Alan. And uh, did I mention you were crazy?"

I contemplated what he said for a moment, judging whether or not it was possible for an imposter to know that, or if it were something he would have been forced to tell them. After a moment, I waved my hand and called my shadows back.

"Sorry. Had to be sure." I explained. Kieran gave me a look, but Liam nodded in understanding.

"Can we go now?" He asked, glancing at Bree. She nodded.

"We're supposed to meet the others in the south-west tunnel. Let's go." Bree gestured at the door. I led the way first, extending my shadows in front of me to use as a shield if necessary.

"You okay?" Liam asked, keeping pace with me. I nodded quietly, tired. "I can lead if you need me to."

I glanced back at him, taking in his appearance. Though he'd definitely been able to hold his own back there, I could easily tell that he wasn't as fit and healthy as he normally was. "No, I got this." I assured him. He didn't respond, so I rolled my eyes at him to reassure him. "Besides, haven't you ever heard that you're supposed to let the lady go first?"

"Fair enough." He agreed, smiling a little at that.

We made our way through the tunnels, careful to avoid as many of the guards as we could. They weren't all avoidable, but Bree was taking care of most of them, speeding forward to take them out before they could realize that we had the prisoners with us.

It was only when we neared the tunnels did we reach a problem. "Shit." I stopped suddenly, pressing myself up against the wall. I'd just nearly walked us into a hall full of heavily armed guards, led by my least favorite blonde.

"What's the problem?" Kieran hissed.

"Jessica. She's got about six guys with her." I replied before glancing around the corner. Unfortunately for me, I happened to look just as Jessica was looking around. Our gazes met, and I knew we were screwed. "She saw me."

"Shit." Taylor repeated my earlier sentiments. I took a deep breath, preparing to attack, when I heard one of the guards speak up.

"Something wrong, Henderson?" She called. Jessica hesitated before responding.

"No. Actually...look, I don't think they're going to come this way." She sighed loudly. I frowned in confusion, then looked past the others at Bree. She looked as confused as I did. "We should try the north exit. I'll send a couple of DeCook's guys to watch here, but I think our time is better spent focusing on actually likely escape paths."

"You sure?" The female guard asked.

"Yes." Jessica seemed more confident in her answer this time. "Besides, if they were planning to come this way, then they've already gotten out."

"Let's go, boys." The female guard called to her fellow agents. We heard retreating footsteps, then nothing.

"Uh...are you sure she saw you?" Lily questioned. I nodded, frowning.

_ "Quot hic vivit?" _  I whispered. I sagged against the wall as the magic drained me, but to my surprise, I only felt it pulse back at me six times. "They're gone."

"Are you sure?" Taylor too sounded suspicious of the situation. I nodded, closing my eyes against a wave of vertigo.

"That spell should have told me how many people were here. I only felt us." I replied. Bree nodded slowly, still cautious though she seemed to believe me.

"Be on guard." She warned, taking the lead. Liam grabbed my arm to help me up, but I brushed him off, following closely behind Bree. To our genuine surprise, we didn't encounter trouble of any kind as we made it into the unguarded underground tunnels.

Before long, we reached the prearranged meet-up spot - a small alleyway near a tunnel entrance and beside this old arcade. Kaz, Dani, Alivia, Skylar, and Jaden were all waiting for us impatiently, standing in front of three Davenport Industries company cars.

"What, did you guys take on

, the others already there waiting for us. Kaz, Dani, Alivia, Skylar, and Jaden were all waiting for us, looking incredibly impatient.

"What, did you guys take on the entire base by yourselves?" Kieran called, taking in their appearances. I didn't blame him - the only one of them that didn't look like they'd been on the losing end of a fight was Jaden. Each and every one of them looked tired and hurt in some shape or form. By the looks of things, we'd all had a really, really rough day.

But that didn't stop Alivia's face from lighting up at the sight of us, or more specifically, the sight of Lily. "Lil!" She cried as her girlfriend raced past us, suddenly filled with energy herself, and threw her arms around the redhead's neck. Alivia dropped her face into the crook of Lily's neck, trembling slightly with relief. "I thought...thank God you're okay."

"God, I love you." Lily responded, pulling back, tears of relief in her eyes.

"What, I don't get a hello?" Liam mentioned jokingly.

"Come here." Dani chuckled, pulling the taller boy in for a hug. When he pulled away, he gave me a pointed grin.

"See? That is how you greet people. Not attacking them." He teased. I rolled my eyes, albeit slightly amused.

"You guys okay? Where are Chase, Oliver, and AJ?" I questioned.

"We're fine. And I don't...nevermind, here they are." Kaz replied, looking past me. Sure enough, AJ, Oliver, and Chase were running towards us, the latter carrying a long weapon like the one the guard had been using against me.

"We need to go, now." Chase told us, motioning for the cars.

"We're pretty sure we got caught by a guard on our way up here." Oliver explained as we followed the bionic genius, each of us piling into different cars. Letting Bree drive, I took the front passenger seat of our car while AJ, Skylar, and Liam took the back seats. The moment we got in, Jaden's voice could be heard on all the intercoms that Calla had made sure to install in the company cars.

"Okay, the penthouse is clear, and we've got MISS on level 5 security, which will pretty much vaporize anyone she doesn't recognize." He let us know.

"So no ordering pizza. Got it." Kaz's voice came from another one of the cars as we all pulled out of the alley and onto the main road. I rolled my eyes, trying to get comfortable in my seat.

"We're all heading back to the penthouse, then?" Liam questioned, uncertain. "Not home base?"

"We've been using the Davenport's penthouse as a base of operations for a few months now." I explained to him. He frowned, but nodded.

"Yeah. I'm going to get Oliver to drop me off at the hospital though - Calla's not returning my calls and I want to check in."

"Is she okay?" Kieran asked quickly, concerned.

"Well, she's eight and a half months pregnant, so..." Dani commented, a little bit of a laugh in her voice. "I'm sure her opinion on that varies from moment to moment."

"We're just going to pick her and Noah up and then we'll meet you guys at home, alright?" Oliver told us.

"Alright, see you guys at home." Skylar replied and the intercom went out. I watched as the car in front of us pulled away and turn down a side road. I sighed and leaned against the window, all the events of the day starting to catch up on me.

"You guys okay?" Bree questioned, glancing at Liam and AJ through the rearview mirror. "You want to stop by Mighty Med 2.0. too?"

"No, but I seriously wouldn't mind that pizza Kaz was talking about." Liam mentioned, only half-joking. "What about you, man?"

I glanced over my shoulder to see him talking to AJ. AJ just shrugged and continued to look outside. Liam frowned and sent the rest of us a confused look. I shrugged; the kid was probably just as tired as us or something.

"AJ?" Skylar asked. "Mighty Med?"

"No, I'm okay." He replied. She nodded, but still looked a little worried about the kid. I was sure he was fine though. And besides, knowing Dani, Kaz, and Oliver, they were going to double-check at the penthouse to make sure everyone was okay. Until then, I just wanted to sleep.

** Chase's POV **

"Well, about time." Jazz was waiting for me in the entrance to Mighty Med 2.0., gently rocking a sleeping Noah in her arms. "You're phone's off."

"Dani, Kaz, and Skylar set off a device that blocked signals." I explained, a little confused why she seemed so frustrated. "Where's Calla?"

Jazz rolled her eyes. "C'mon." She motioned for me to follow her and she started leading me through the halls.

"What's going on?" I questioned as we passed by the rec room that my wife had been set up in earlier. Jazz didn't answer, instead leading me down another hallway until she stopped at one of the doors. Confused, I walked in, seeing Calla sitting cross-legged on the bed, wearing a dark purple hospital gown and a couple of monitors. Her eyes were tightly closed as she tightly gripped one of the bed's pillows. "Uh...babe?"

She raised a finger at me, motioning for me to wait for a moment until she let out a slow, painful breath and opened her eyes. "So, contractions suck." She murmured, giving me a half smile. I frowned, confused.

"Contractions?" I repeated. "No, that must be false contractions. They can happen sometimes happen in the weeks prior to the baby being born."

"No, trust me. These are real." Calla assured me, one hand rubbing her lower back. I stared at her.

"The baby's not due for another 2 weeks." I pointed out, slowly entering the room.

"Yeah, well, it seems that my impatience can be passed down." Calla replied. I opened my mouth to object again, because no, this wasn't happening, I wasn't ready yet. "Chase, early or not, the baby's coming."

"Uh, right. Yeah." Even my mind was having trouble wrapping itself around this. I was about to be a dad. Okay. Yeah, sure. Totally wasn't freaking out in the slightest.


	13. No Place Like Home

** Rani's POV **

"God, you're terrible at this!" I hissed, pulling away from Kaz. He gave me a look, holding an antiseptic wipe in his hand.

"And you, Nyx, are a terrible patient." He responded, taking my arm back to continue wiping at the burn on it. I scowled, then looked over at the others. Lily, Alivia, and Liam were all on the couch, while Kieran and Taylor took up the two chairs. Dani was looking over Kieran, biting her lip in concentration as she took his blood pressure.

"Don't take it personally, Kaz; she's always cranky when she's tired." Dani called over her shoulder before started to remove the blood pressure cuff from Kieran's arm.

"I'm not tired." I snapped, more annoyed at the truth in her words than the fact that she was teasing me.

"You know, I thought you were a better liar than that." Lily mentioned, giving me a small smirk. I rolled my eyes, to which she responded with a little laugh. "From what I understand, it's been a really long day. There's no shame in not having an unlimited supply of energy."

"I think we could all do for a little break, actually." Alivia chimed in. I gave her a look. "Look, S.H.I.R.T.'s not going anywhere, and we're definitely not going after them until we have the others back here."

"You really think Calla's going to be up to walking us through a mission right after having a baby?" Bree questioned, stepping out of the hyperlift. As soon as we'd gotten back, she'd insisted on checking the penthouse thoroughly.

"Are you kidding me?" Taylor snorted, amused. She leaned back in the chair, one hand tracing the top of Kieran's arm. She smirked. "It's Calla, guys. Ten bucks says she tries to run mission command from the delivery room."

"Is it all clear?" Alivia questioned, looking away from Lily to spare Bree a glance. The speedster nodded, absently reaching to ruffle Glitch's hair as the dog walked past her on his way to the kitchen.

"Yep. There were definitely people down there - they freaking cut through the rock wall - but it's all clear. Carson's missing from lockup though."

"I told you we should have brought him with us." Kaz commented, finally stepping back from me.

"There wasn't enough time to find a way to secure him properly." Alivia reminded him.

"He's got a point though - we could have interrogated him, learned more about S.H.I.R.T. and why they want to kill us." Dani pointed out. Bree shrugged, then held up a pair of weird-looking sunglasses.

"Oh, I did find these in the vault." She stated, gently placing them in Taylor's hands. "Calla made them for Douglas when his vision was impaired."

"Oh, cool." Taylor twisted them in her hands for a moment, getting a feel for them, before slowly sliding them onto her face and adjusting them for comfort. "Awesome. They don't fit the best, but I think they're just like the ones S.H.I.R.T. stole from me."

"I'm sure Calla can make some adjustments when she's feeling up to it." Kieran assured his girlfriend, smiling at her.

"So, how are you guys?" Bree questioned, leaning on the back of the couch and giving Liam, Lily, Kieran, and Taylor all a concerned look.

"We're fine, Bree." Kieran assured her. Dani raised an eyebrow at that. "I mean, we're mostly fine?"

Dani chuckled a little, rolling her eyes. "That's more like it. You're all dehydrated, physically fatigued, and a little malnourished. Nothing that a good meal, some sleep, and a little time won't fix though." She declared, standing up and rubbing her hands together. She glanced at her boyfriend, who was now sitting in the blue circle chair. "You should really let me set that broken rib?"

"No way." Kaz instinctively covered his side with his arm. Dani gave him an exasperated look. "Look, Dee, I love you and all, but you are mean when it comes to resetting bones. It's not normally a gentle procedure, but you manage to make it hurt twice as much as most doctors."

"That's not true." Dani retorted.

"Yes it is." Alivia, Lily, Liam, and I all replied simultaneously. Dani stared at us for a moment, then scowled.

"Next time, I'm leaving you in the bad guy's lair." She told Liam and Lily half-heartedly before grabbing her cell phone and heading upstairs.

"Everyone else is just a little battered and bruised. Though I do agree that we should all get some sleep while we can." Kaz added.

"That does sound amazing." Liam mentioned, brushing his hand over my shoulder. I shrugged.

"Bedroom's upstairs." I replied. He rolled his eyes at my insistence that I didn't need to sleep, but he didn't say anything. He probably wanted to, but before he could, Skylar and Oliver walked in, carrying two large, brown paper bags.

"Anyone hungry?" Skylar questioned, dropping the bags on the coffee table. She started pulling out Chinese take out boxes, handing them out. "AJ, we have dinner."

The kid, who had been sitting in the kitchen for the past forty minutes, looked up at his name, but shrugged at the sight of food before looking back down at his IPad.

"Where's Dee? I got her vegetarian egg rolls and tofu pot stickers." Oliver questioned, pulling out a carton with a green tag on it.

"Well, she's either calling Barry to let him know that we saved Lily and Liam, or she's mad at all of us." I commented. Oliver frowned.

"...Not going to ask." He placed the carton aside and clapped his hands together. "Okay, so I just finished talking with Jaden. Baby's not here yet, but it's definitely on its way. He'll keep us updated through texts." He explained before glancing at Bree. "Noah fell asleep in his arms and he didn't want to wake him, otherwise he'd send the kid home with us."

"I'll check in with them later." Bree decided, smiling in thanks at Oliver.

"I can't believe the baby's here already. It feels like she and Chase came to the Academy just yesterday to tell everyone."

"Yeah?" Bree commented, sitting down. Lily nodded, rubbing her eyes a little.

"It was far too easy to lose track of time down there." She agreed. The rest of us all glanced at each other. "What?"

"We just...we don't want to push, honey," Alivia smiled at her, brushing a strand of hair from Lily's face, "but we do want to know what happened."

"When they took us, you mean?" Liam asked, suddenly become serious again. Skylar nodded.

"If you don't mind." She added. Liam, Kieran, Taylor, and Lily all hesitated, as if trying to figure out where to start.

** Jaden's POV **

"Yes Mom, I know she's early, but that's not exactly CeeCee's fault now is it?" I said patiently, holding the phone up to my ear with my shoulder while shaking Noah's rattle with the other. My son giggled, trying to grab it.

_ "It just makes it difficult to come out and see her, you know?" _  Mom sighed. I rolled my eyes.

"Mom, there's no rush, really. With everything going on, I don't think it's a good idea to have company anyway." I mentioned, smiling a little when Noah finally got his hand around the rattle.

_ "You're most likely right, but that's not exactly a good environment for a newborn, or Calla. The last thing she needs right is more stress." _ Mom chided. I chuckled, not wanting to point out that our mother visiting would likely only stress my sister out more, not less.

"Believe me, Chase is doing everything he can to make sure she's under no stress." Almost as if I'd called him, Chase came out of Calla's room just then, an annoyed look on his face. "Uh, I gotta go, Mom. I'll call you later with an update. Love you."

After waiting for her to respond, I hung up and looked at Chase. "She kick you out?"

"Oh yeah." He agreed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "She thinks I'm fussing too much."

"How long's she got?" I asked, pocketing my phone. Chase shrugged.

"Contractions are still a few minutes apart, so we've got some time. Any word on the others?" He asked, glancing at me.

"No one's seriously injured, but Dani, Kaz, and Oliver are all prescribing rest. Skylar's worried about AJ, said he's not eating."

"The poor kid." Chase sighed. "Someone should talk to him, make sure he's okay."

"I'm sure someone will." I reassured him. AJ may be closest with Calla and Chase, but everyone on the team genuinely cared for the kid. I watched Chase pace for a moment. "Dude, sit down. You're going to wear a hole in the floor."

"That's a myth." He muttered, still pacing.

"You don't know that." I pointed out. He stopped and gave me a look.

"Jaden, if Bree can pace at superspeed for ten minutes straight without damaging the floor, I'm pretty sure it's impossible." He responded before continuing. I raised an eyebrow and leaned back in my seat.

"You're freaking out." I observed, a tiny bit amused. Chase was usually the cool-headed one on the team, and I had to admit, it was a little...humanizing to see him not 100% calm all the time.

"No I'm not." He grumbled. But then he slowed in his pacing, and sent me a wide-eyed look. "I am not ready for this."

"Hate to break it to you, pal, but nobody ever is." I admitted. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Dude, you're going to be fine. I mean, I'm not doing a bad job, and I've read half the parenting manuals that you have."

"Parenting manuals aren't everything, Jaden." He finally stopped and dropped into a seat on the other side of Noah. "I mean, yeah, I've got a game plan and everything, but I'm not ready for this...You know how much actually thought I've given to being a dad these past few months?"

"That's not fair - between kidnapped friends and S.H.I.R.T., we've all been overwhelmed." I mentioned. He shook his head.

"That's not an excuse. And now the baby's coming and this time tomorrow I'm going to have a kid. Can you imagine that - me and Calla with a kid?"

"Honestly? Yeah. I think she'll be amazing." I reassured him. He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "Besides, she'll have Noah here to big brother her."

Chase smiled a little at that, glancing down at his nephew. "I guess." He agreed reluctantly. He leaned back in the chair. "I just don't get how Calla's so calm about this."

"Nah, she's just better at hiding it." I assured him. He looked at me, a little surprised. "Now she didn't say anything to me, but I know for a fact that she's been going to Bree for advise a lot in the past month."

"Yeah, I had noticed they were hanging out a lot more than they used to." Chase admitted. I chuckled.

"Trust me, she's as freaked as you are. But you guys are going to be just fine - if you two can battle bionic psychopaths and crazy supervillains, I think you can handle a baby."

"I hope you're right." Chase agreed quietly.

"Oh, and by the way, I think I managed to convince Mom not to fly down here immediately to see the baby - didn't think we needed that distraction right now - but you guys are going to need to visit as soon as you get the chance, or we're all dead."

"Crap." Chase muttered. "Thanks, Jay. I totally should have thought to call her and your dad."

"It's fine. They understand." I replied. He pulled out his phone.

"I need to call Adam, Leo, and Mr. Davenport." He realized. No sooner had he hit his contacts button did Calla's voice come from the room.

"Chase!" She shouted. Chase stood up immediately.

"I'll call them." I chuckled. Chase nodded his thanks and ran into the room as I started dialing a number. A second later, despite the fact that it was almost 10 PM, the other line picked up. "Hey Leo, guess whose baby has the worst timing in the world?"

** Rani's POV **

"Well, everything seemed normal at first." Taylor began, taking Kieran's hand. "We had just finished taking down this supervillain for you guys - the Yodeler, I think his name was?"

"Who came up with that name?" Liam chuckled, amused.

"I think Jordan suggested it to Barry." Dani mentioned, having just come back downstairs. Liam and Lily both paused, glancing at each other, then at Alivia. "Oh, yeah. Cat's out of the bag on that one, guys."

"Yeah, about that - how could you guys seriously not tell me about him telling her?" Alivia questioned, turning to give them both a stern, annoyed look. They exchanged guilty smiles.

"Uh, so, what happened next?" Lily asked instead of answering, giving her girlfriend an apologetic smile. Alivia rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything as Kieran continued the story.

"Yeah, so, just as we were finishing up, Taylor thought she heard something in the woods. I thought we should check it out." Kieran explained. He shrugged. "I knew people hunted in the area a lot, so I figured that an animal got caught in some kind of trap or something."

"Anyway, we'd only been walking for about five minutes when we got jumped." Taylor continued. She frowned. "They were waiting for us, I think, hiding in the trees. If they'd been walking around or chasing us, I think I would have heard them, but I didn't even realize they were there until it was too late."

"Like she said, they jumped us." Kieran continued. "There were about five or six of them-"

"Six, definitely six." Taylor interjected. "Two of them were heavier set, I think, and I'm sure at least one of them was a girl. We tangled when I pulled her to the ground."

"Six of them." Kieran amended. "Two girls, three guys, and one I wasn't too sure about. One of them was definitely that Carson guy you showed us a picture of."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw AJ sit up a little at the sound of his uncle's name.

"They had these weapons..." Taylor trailed off, sounding confused. "They were kinda like the blasters Davenport uses in training, but they felt different somehow."

"The blasts were white and blinding, not like the blue and red plasma we use." Kieran added.

"Yeah, I was attacked with the same weapon." Lily agreed. "They got me when I was coming back from trying to grab Scorcher in Michigan. Three of them, one of them carrying a weapon like that. Actually, you know what it reminded me of?"

"Liam's powers." I didn't even realize it until I spoke. I looked at him. "Yeah, they had one of those when I was fighting there today. It was like one of your light blasts, but way more powerful."

"Huh, that's weird. They didn't use anything like that against me. I just got attacked by five goons coming out of a convenience store on my way back from a mission."

"Does anyone else notice that they kept grabbing us after missions?" Dani spoke up. "I mean, they tried to get Tempest like that too, right after he dealt with Blue Demon."

"It wouldn't surprise me if S.H.I.R.T. had been tracking villains too." Skylar mentioned. "They probably realized what was going on and decided to take us afterwards since they knew that we'd be easier to take when we were tired and possibly injured."

"Why were they taking us though? I don't understand - they're government agents." Lily commented, confused.

"Actually, they're more like a private organization, working like a government organization." Oliver mentioned, shrugging. "I had Jordan look into it - they're kind a like an illegal militia, but they run more like an espionage agency than an army."

"Fun." I commented sarcastically.

"As for the why, from what we can gather, they think people like us are dangerous and need to be stopped before we hurt innocent people. And since they either don't know how to or don't care to remove our powers, they've chosen to just kill all of us." Skylar explained, annoyed.

"That's insane." Taylor insisted.

"Tell me about it." Dani agreed, sitting down on the ground in front of the couch and crisscrossing her legs. "I mean, Jessica Henderson, Miles DeCook, Faith Parker? Why in the world would they get on board for this?"

"Faith was at Mighty Med. She saw everything that Roddiseus and his kids did." Oliver explained, shaking his head. He sighed. "They were heroes. It wasn't hardened criminals doing that, it was people that we trusted, people who were supposed to protect the innocent. I guess she just figured that if the people we were supposed to be able to rely on were capable of doing all that damage, then no one could be trusted with that kind of abilities."

"She was at Mighty Med?" Dani looked surprised at the news.

"Well, she was at the Normo hospital protecting Mighty Med." Oliver clarified. Alivia looked at Bree.

"Did Calla or Jaden know about this?" She asked sharply. Bree shrugged.

"They knew that she was volunteering to help with the clean up after a hospital attack. They figured it was Mighty Med, but none of us knew that she was there during the attack." She explained. "The clean up there took months though, and they were surprised that she was helping out the entire time. I mean, she missed Chase and Calla's wedding in order to help transfer files and important documents for the hospital." Kaz looked up at those words, confused.

"Faith was at the wedding." He said, frowning at Bree.

"No, she wasn't." Dani replied. He nodded. "No, Kaz, she wasn't."

"Yeah, I'm sure she...oh." Kaz stopped, a look of realization coming over him.

"Oh what?" I demanded. He shook his head, pursing his lips.

"It's nothing." He insisted.

"Kaz…" Alivia warned. He glanced at her, apologetic. "Wait, tell me it's not...seriously?" Her tone turned exasperated. "Seriously?"

"Okay, this is not my fault." Kaz insisted. Alivia crossed her arms, looking at him sternly. "How could it possibly be related, Liv? There's no way!"

"No way what?" I demanded, looking between the two of them. They were still staring at each other, daring the other to break first. "Guys!"

Eventually, Kaz sighed. "This doesn't make sense." He muttered. He looked at us. "So, Faith was at the wedding, originally."

"Originally?" Lily frowned, looking at the redhead.

"Hotshot here used time travel to go back to the day Mighty Med was destroyed." Alivia explained.

"Kaz." Skylar gasped, staring at him. "What were you thinking?"

Kaz hesitated. "It seemed like a good idea at the time?" He said instead of giving her a straight answer.

"Do you have any idea what kind of damage you could have done to our timeline?" Dani demanded, equally shocked.

"Hey! You know what? I did more good than bad." Kaz argued. He looked at us, a serious expression on his face. "I checked the numbers - twenty-three people who originally died in that massacre are alive right now. I consider that a win."

"Wait, you three didn't know about this?" Liam questioned, taking in Dani, Oliver, and Skylar's shocked expressions.

"I'm the only who knew, and I found out after the fact." Alivia explained.

"Not quite. Calla knows too." Kaz chimed in, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably.

"Let me guess - you pressed the 'do not touch' button on her time machine and she had it rigged to a camera or something?" Bree guessed, sighing. Kaz shrugged.

"What can I say? She knows how my mind operates." He admitted.

"Wait, how would that affect whether or not Faith was there?" Skylar questioned.

"Oh, she was probably there the whole time, but it's possible that without Kaz's interference, she wasn't aware of the superhuman aspect to the attack. Most of the world believes it was a terrorist attack, right?" Dani questioned.

"Yeah, I think so." Oliver nodded in confirmation.

"So that turned Faith against us." Alivia sighed, giving Kaz one last look before continuing. "It's hard to say about the others, why they're doing it."

"They're doing it because they're crazy." Kieran insisted. "Every single one of them. Especially that Director Bosetti." At those words, AJ finally reacted, climbing out of his seat to head outside onto the veranda. "What did I say?"

"It's not your fault." Skylar assured him, starting to get up. "I'll go talk to him."

"Actually, let me get this." Oliver told her, patting her knee before getting up and heading out onto the veranda.

"Oh, by the way, Barry, Alan, and the others all want to hear from you two." Dani quickly changed the topic, pulling out her phone and holding it out to Liam and Lily. "They want to make sure you guys are okay themselves."

"Yeah, I'd be pretty worried if I were in their shoes." Lily agreed, taking the cell phone. She kissed Alivia on the cheek and stood up. "I'll be right back."

We all started to disperse then, with most of us heading into the kitchen for food. Bree went to call Jaden and check in on Calla, while Kaz and Alivia went into the hall to talk (somebody was in trouble, I could tell).

"Hey," I felt Liam's hand on my arm. I looked up and gave him a thin smile. "Can we talk?"

** Oliver's POV **

I found AJ sitting on top of the barrier on the veranda, one leg crossed on top while the other hanging down on the inside, preventing him from falling accidently. The kid wasn't doing anything - normally, you couldn't tear his IPad or cellphone out of his hands - except watching the city below. "You okay?" I asked, approaching him. He shrugged.

"I didn't know what was going on." He mumbled, not looking up. I nodded thoughtfully, leaning up against the barrier next to him.

"We know that. You're not the type to get caught up in all of that." I assured him. He nodded but didn't say anything. "Look, Kieran didn't know about your family - he didn't mean to call them crazy."

"But they are, aren't they?" AJ looked up at me, eyes wide with desperation. "I mean, he's right - no one sane would do something like that."

"It's not that they're crazy, kid, they just...they see things differently than we do, and they're just willing to do things we don't agree with to make sure they achieve their goal.:" Okay, that sounded fake even to my ears. AJ gave me a look.

"You don't believe that." He pointed out. I sighed.

"Okay, you're right. What they're doing doesn't make sense. But just because it doesn't make sense to us, doesn't mean it doesn't make sense to them." I told him. He frowned, confused. "My mom first became a villain because she was trying to protect Dani and I from a different villain. That sounds a little hypocritical to us, but to her, it was the only option she could think of." I explained. "So maybe your Mom has a really good reason for getting involved in this."

"I don't agree." AJ retorted. He shook his head. "She's not evil though. I don't think she likes what Grandpa's doing. I know she regrets..." He trailed off and bit his lip, as if he were about to say something he shouldn't have.

"Regrets what, AJ?" I inquired. He didn't answer. "AJ, we can't help you or her if we don't know what's going on."

He breathed a long, drawn out sigh. "She screwed up, Oliver. She really screwed up."

"How so?" I asked patiently. He glanced at me.

"Look, I should have told you before...she knows magic, Oliver." While I hadn't been expecting that answer, it didn't entirely surprise me either. Between Sienna's deep interest in Rani and her abilities and a few other things that didn't quite make sense around here, it made sense that she too was an expert in the dark arts.

"Black magic, like Rani?" I confirmed. He nodded. I stopped for a moment, remembering a conversation from earlier today, though after the day it had been, it felt like it had been weeks ago. "AJ, did your Mom bring Carson back from the dead?"

He looked up, surprised that I'd made that leap. "Yeah, how...?"

"Dee was so sure that he was dead, and then Rani interrogated him, he kept saying that he was alive because of magic. We thought he was being sarcastic, but..."

"Nope. He was completely serious." AJ confirmed. I pinched the bridge of my nose. "She brought Grandpa back too. He died when she was a teenager."

"She brought two people back from the dead using magic?" I confirmed. He nodded.

"She and Uncle Carson, they were always really close. Like how you and Dani are, and when he died..." He shrugged. "She was really upset and quiet for a while. She brought us back to Philadelphia because it's where she grew up before her dad died, and after a few months, she pulled a bunch of spellbooks out of this old chest she would never let me touch."

"And then she brought them back." I finished. He nodded. "Where in the world did your Mom learn to do magic like that? Rani only knows of those spells in theory, and she studied magic for nearly five years at a villainous university."

"Grandpa taught her and Uncle Carson when they were kids." He explained. I frowned, but he continued before I could ask my next questioned. "He learned magic on the job."

"What job?" I questioned, confused. "Your grandfather's a Normo, right?"

"Oh, no. He's not." AJ chuckled darkly at all this. "That's why they wanted me to keep things a secret. They didn't want me telling you guys that he used to work for the League of Heroes."

I stared at him. "Your grandfather used to work for the League of Heroes?" I demanded, floored. AJ nodded.

"Yeah. He doesn't have any of his comics - Mom says they didn't make any on the less popular heroes back then - but apparently, he was a superhero."

"Great." The last thing we needed was another Roddiseus situation. AJ nodded. "Then why does he want to eliminate all other heroes?"

"Well, I was told not to say anything about his powers because he was retired and didn't want to bring his old enemies coming for us, kinda like how Horace doesn't tell many people that he's Caduceo." AJ said slowly. He looked at his hands. "Now I think that maybe he just didn't want the rest of S.H.I.R.T. to know about his powers so that once everyone else with powers are dead, he and Uncle Carson will be the only ones with abilities."

"And then they'll go for world domination." It wasn't hard to guess what their endgame was if that was their first goal. AJ nodded in agreement. "You know, just once I'd like to fight a villain who only wants a little respect and a churro. You know, that way if we lose, the world's not going to end."

AJ smiled a little at that. "Well, whatever it is they're planning, they've been planning it for a while. Grandpa started working on setting up S.H.I.R.T. only a couple of days after he came back." He explained.

"Then I hate to say it, AJ, but when your grandfather died the first time, he wasn't a hero. Something must have happened to turn him away from the League, otherwise he wouldn't have been so prepared to get revenge when he came back."

"I guess." AJ shrugged. He was quiet for a minute, before adding, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"It's okay, kid. You didn't know what was happening, and you were just trying to be loyal to your family." I assured him, patting his shoulder. He nodded, kicking his leg a little.

"What's going to happen now?" He asked, his voice shrinking with worry. He looked up at me, biting his lip. "To me? And - and to my mom?"

I hesitated, not knowing what to say. "I don't know." I eventually admitted. He nodded, his breathing hitching a little. "I don't know, AJ, but you'll be okay, alright? The entire team has your back, and we don't let each other down. I swear."

AJ didn't say anything, but nodded to show that he heard me. Realizing that there wasn't much more I could say, and that he probably wanted to be alone for a while, I started to head inside. I paused at the door. "AJ?"

"Yeah?" He responded, looking up.

"What was your grandfather's superhero codename?" I asked gently. "He may not have comics, but it's possible that we have some files left on him. At the very least, Horace should remember him."

"Um...Mom said it once. I think it was Argento?" AJ replied. I stared at him, recognizing the name instantly. "Yeah, it was Argento."

** Rani's POV **

"Yeah, what?" I questioned as Liam pulled me into the corner of the room.

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay." He told me, looking at me in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My magic speeds up my healing, you know that." I reminded him, rolling my eyes. He crossed his arms.

"Not what I meant, and you know it." He told me sternly. I rolled my eyes. "You're exhausted and everyone knows it. Why won't you go get some rest?"

"Because I'm fine." I insisted. He frowned.

"Is it...nightmares again?" He asked, not unkindly. "I'm sure if you just talk to Horace, or at least Dani, they can give you something to help you sleep."

"No, it's not...I'm sleeping fine, okay? I just..." I really couldn't explain it myself. "Do you ever get that feeling that you're not really awake, that you're really just dreaming and the moment you try to go to sleep, then you're going to wake up in reality?"

"You're worried that this is all a crazy dream." He realized.

"Do you blame me? In the last twenty-four hours...twenty-five hours, sorry," I corrected myself, "I've dealt with a fake you, got stuck in a time loop, and broke into a secret fake-government agency building."

"Yeah, that's fair. Our lives are weird." He deadpanned. "But it is real, Shadows. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. This isn't a dream."

A part of me had already known that, but I guess hearing someone say it out loud made it more real to me. I nodded, feeling myself relax a little. "Did you really what you said earlier?"

"That you're crazy? Absolutely. But it's a total turn on, I promise." He joked. I elbowed him in the ribs, giving him a look.

"Do you have any ability to be serious?" I questioned, exasperated. He smirked.

"A little laughter is good for the soul, my little witch." He told me. I raised an eyebrow and his smirk transformed into a genuine smile. "Yes, I did fall in love with one crazy, shadow-bending witch named Rani Shore."

I licked my lips. "Good. Just wanted to make sure." I leaned forward, kissing him. I felt his hand trail down my side until he was holding my lower back, pulling me closer. I pulled my head back though, just enough that I could whisper in his ears. "Now, why don't we go find that bed you were talking about?"

** Jaden's POV **

"Hey. Oh my God." Bree burst into the hospital room first. She smiled brightly at the sight of Calla and Chase - the former lying in bed with a tiny little bundle wrapped in a yellow blanket in her arms while the latter had yet to take his eyes off the baby's sleeping face.

He did, however, glance up as Bree, Dani, Kaz, Kieran, and Taylor all filed into the room, one by one. "And this is why we got the biggest room in the hospital." I joked to Oliver as I took the hospital bag he must have grabbed at the house from him.

"She's beautiful, guys." Kieran told them, sitting down on the edge of Calla's bed to get a better look at the baby. I had to admit, I did have one adorable niece. She was fast asleep in Calla's arms, looking so small and precious in that yellow blanket and dark blue hat.

"So, how is Hot Dog Davenport doing?" Kaz grinned, apparently still hoping that they'd gone with his name suggestion.

"Emily Davenport is doing just fine, Kaz." Chase corrected, the look he gave him failing to appear stern due to the smile on his face.

"Hey, that was Skylar's suggestion." Dani smirked, remembering. She looked at us. "It's the second most popular girl's name on Caldera."

"Don't ask her what the most popular girl's name is, you won't be able to pronounce it." Kaz warned, smiling as he leaned in for a closer look at the baby.

"She's cute." Dani observed, also coming in close. She stopped suddenly, then reached for her backpack. "Oh, yeah. I picked this up for her a couple of weeks ago."

From her backpack she pulled out a stuffed animal in the shape of a unicorn. It was purple in color, aside from the pink mane and horn, and was about the size of a basketball. "Oh, Dani, she'll love it." Calla cooed as he placed the stuffed animal next to her. "Thank you."

"Where is everyone else?" Chase asked, realizing that it was just them.

"Ollie and the others decided to stay back, so they wouldn't crowd you." Taylor explained.

** Oliver's POV **

"So, Argento's back." Alivia commented as I set a tray of hot chocolates down on the coffee table. Lily untangled her hands from Alivia's to grab a couple of mugs for the two of them, flashing me a grateful smile. "What are the odds that AJ is the grandson of the original Mr. Terror?"

"Honestly, with our luck, we should have expected this." Skylar commented, accepting a mug from me. It was just Lily, Alivia, Skylar, and I around the living room discussing this. AJ was still out on the veranda – I still had no idea how to explain to him that his mother lied about Bosetti being a 'hero' – while Liam and Rani had disappeared upstairs just before the others left for the hospital.

"Well, do you know how she defeated him?" Lily inquired. "Maybe we can do something similar."

"Maybe, but he's not the only issue. According to AJ, Carson's got powers too, and Sienna has magic. Then we've got the rest of the agents to deal with, including Graham, Miles, Jessica, and Faith." I pointed out. "We're outnumbered and outgunned."

"And what about this artifact that they're looking for?" Skylar added, frowning. "How does that fit into their plans?"

" _I hate to interrupt, but Mister Jaden ordered me to inform you of any possible intruders."_ MISS spoke up suddenly. We all stood up instantly.

"What's going on MISS?" Alivia demanded.

"Two people just stepped onto the elevator and hit the button for the 110th floor." MISS declared. We all exchanged looks – there were only two apartments on this floor. One belonged to us, and the other Perry, but with her out of town on a family reunion, there was only one place they could be going.

"What the hell is going on?" Rani and Liam came running down the stairs, hair askew and messy.

"Rani, use your shadows to incapacitate the intruders. Everyone else, be ready to strike." Alivia ordered. She glanced over her shoulder at AJ, who'd come in when he heard MISS' warning. "AJ, stay back there until we know it's safe."

Lily stepped close to the door, then waited. "MISS, let us know when they reach the door." Skylar whispered. MISS didn't respond, not at first, but after a moment, she announced that they were approaching the door. Lily waited a moment, then, using her telekinesis, flung the door open. Rani raised her hand before we could even identify the people and wrapped her shadows around them like chains.

"Whoa!" Miles shouted, surprised. He and Jessica squirmed in their bindings, caught off guard by the attack.

"Guys!" Jessica cried, eyes wide.

"What do you want?" Liam demanded, stepping closer to them, hand half raised in preparation for an attack.

"To talk!" Miles insisted. He took a breath, then continued in a calmer voice. "We're unarmed, and S.H.I.R.T. does not know we're here. We just want to talk."


	14. Endgame

** Oliver's POV **

"And why should we believe you?" Rani questioned, slowly moving to the side as she maintained her shadows' grips on Jessica and Miles. Hair askew, barefoot, and in PJs, you wouldn't think her much of a threat, but she looked downright deadly.

"We're here to help." Jessica tried again. Rani scowled and tightened the shadows.

"That didn't answer her question." Liam stated coolly, eying them warily. "You helped kidnap us. Why in the world would we give you the time of day?"

"Because we also helped you escape?" Miles attempted. I frowned, not understanding what he meant, but judging by the looks Rani, Lily, and Liam exchanged, there was more to comment than meets-the-eye.

"What are you talking about?" Alivia questioned, glancing at Lily before looking back at the S.H.I.R.T. agents.

"You encountered almost no resistance getting out of there, didn't you? You didn't think that was a coincidence, did you?" Miles challenged. I bit my lip, pushing down the nagging feeling in my stomach. While getting into the base had been nearly impossible, getting out had been easy. Easy enough to make every Chase, AJ, and I paranoid every step of the way, up until we reached the hospital. "As soon as I realized what was going on, I started directing my agents elsewhere. I tried to get as many of them out of your way as possible without looking suspicious."

"I know you saw me as you were trying to get out." Jessica added, addressing Rani, Liam, and Lily. "The three of you, plus Bree, Kieran, and Taylor all almost ran into my tactical team. You would have been caught if we hadn't turned around."

"Is what she's saying true?" Skylar questioned, glancing at them. Rani frowned, a look of hesitancy coming over her face.

"I...I'd thought you'd seen us." She mumbled.

"Why did you let us go, then? You're agents of S.H.I.R.T., you work for Argento. Why change sides?" Alivia demanded, ignoring her friend's hesitation.

"Who's Argento?" Miles questioned, confused. Alivia frowned at his response.

"Bosetti." Jessica glanced at Miles before turning back to us. "We were manipulated, okay? They didn't tell us everything."

"You're telling me that you didn't know that he was kidnapping heroes?" Lily scoffed, ticked off.

"I mean, I did, but I..." Jessica sighed. "Look, this would all be a lot easier if you gave us an actual chance to explain. Hate us if you want, and no one's going to force you to accept our help, but what's the harm in hearing us out?"

Rani glanced at Skylar and Alivia, expecting one of them to tell her what to do. "One wrong move, and we'll blast both of you. Understood?" Skylar said slowly, raising her hand to create a plasma ball, just to prove her point.

"That seems fair." Miles agreed, not the slightest bit of sarcasm in his voice. Jessica nodded too. Alivia sighed and cocked her head at Rani, who obediently released Jessica and Miles. They stepped back from us, rubbing their arms where Rani's shadows had been cutting off the circulation.

"Sit." I ordered, pointing at the couch. We all watched them carefully as they made their way to the couch and sat down. They were careful to move slowly, keeping their hands in sight so as to not give us an excuse to fire at them. "Okay, talk."

"You asked if we didn't know about the kidnappings. Jess and Faith may have, but I didn't." Miles told us. Many of us rolled our eyes at his excuse, not dumb enough to believe it. "It's true, I've known about all of this for about..." He glanced past me at the clock on the wall. "For less than 12 hours now."

"You expect us to believe that?" Liam challenged.

"It's true." AJ spoke up. I glanced back at him and he continued. "Mom and Grand...Argento acted as if he was never a part of it to begin with. How'd you find out?" He directed the last part to Miles, but Jessica answered instead.

"I told him." She admitted. Miles nodded his agreement, attempting to assure us that she wasn't lying to save her own ass. "This wasn't what I signed up for."

"What did you sign up for?" Skylar questioned, sitting down in one of the seats. She raised an eyebrow at her. "You're working for a criminal, so I'm curious where you drew the line."

"I didn't know he was a criminal. Hell, I didn't know what he was. When Graham and I signed up, we were told that we'd be stopping people like you from hurting innocent people."

"People like us." Lily repeated, her tone cold. Jessica nodded.

"I know this isn't going to win me any more brownie points, but people with your abilities are dangerous. You say you're on the right side, and I want to believe you, but from what I'm told, Roddiseus and his children were 'heroes' too before they wiped out two hospitals."

"So, your solution to a few crazies going on a rampage is to kill the rest of us?" Liam demanded, ticked off. Jessica shook her head quickly.

"I wasn't told they'd be killing people. I didn't sign up for a genocide - you'd have to be out of your mind to do that. But I do agree with locking people like you up if you go against the law, and let's face it, most of you have at one point or another." She explained. Rani opened her mouth to object, but Jessica quickly continued. "You had your reasons, and they were good ones, I know. But if people can just go around breaking the law like that, without any consequences, bad things tend to happen."

"So, what? We should be locked up because of our powers?" I questioned. "I hate to break it to you, Jess, but that's kidnapping. Not to mention, most of us didn't choose to have powers."

"I know. There's no perfect solution to this. If these were weapons, we'd make you register for licenses, but you can't make someone get a license just to live." She explained. She looked at us imploringly. "I was just trying to help people. I didn't think things would turn out like this, or go this far."

"So, you're just willing to work with the people you were trying to lock up? Just like that?" Rani questioned. She gave Jessica a look. "I've been in your position, Blondie. You don't just switch sides because you're 'sorry'. You want something. What is it?"

"A second chance." Jessica replied. Rani scoffed and rolled her eyes. "No, hear me out. I still think there has to be rules in place for people like you. Something that can make regular people feel safe, but something that will also allow you guys to do your jobs and do them safely."

"What do you propose?" Alivia questioned, intrigued by the way Jessica was phrasing it.

"Assuming that you accept our help, we arrange a sort of...coalition. We get representatives from each group - Normos, bionics, superheroes, and aliens - and we figure out a set of rules and laws that work for everyone. That way, they'll work in favor of the majority, and no species will be screwed over by them."

The rest of us paused, considering Jessica's proposition. Admittedly, it wasn't a bad one, assuming we could trust her. But that was a big assumption.

"And what about Faith?" Lily questioned, looking at Miles. When he didn't answered, she pushed him. "Well? Where does she fit into this?"

"I don't know." He admitted. "But she lied to me, and worse, she's involved in something like this. I don't know what she's thinking, or how she kept this from me, but I swear, I'm not on board for anything that she's planning. As far as I'm concerned, we're through."

I glanced at the others, wondering what they were thinking, and what they were going to decide.

** Xxx **

_ "And we're just supposed to trust them?" _  Bree questioned, pacing in front of the screen. Because it was impossible to make such a decision without the rest of the team, I'd texted my sister and had her set up a video conference in Mighty Med 2.0.'s rec room.

"That's what they want, yeah." Skylar confirmed, sitting down on top of the cyberdesk. Lily sighed.

"They make a compelling argument." She stated. Alivia turned to look at her, disagreement all over her face.

"Miles, maybe, but Jessica? Are you kidding me?" She retorted. "She knew where you were the entire time, and she didn't help you. How can you want to work with her?"

"Because she's not the only person in the world to make a mistake." The psychic reasoned. "And we're could use them."

_ "How?" _  Kieran inquired, confused. Jaden sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

_ "Because S.H.I.R.T. still trusts them. If they're telling the truth, they could get us inside for another raid, this time with more firepower and more time to prepare." _  He explained.

_ "But that's a huge risk." _  Calla reminded us. She pushed her wheelchair forward a little, making sure that she could be seen. Little Emily was fast asleep in her arms, her face resting in the crook of Calla's elbow.  _"I mean, can we trust them? After everything they've put us all through?"_

"Calla's got a point." Skylar agreed.

_ "Okay, what do we know for sure? Let's figure that out first." _  Chase decided, crossing his arms.

"Miles didn't know what was going on." AJ spoke up. Rani nodded.

"And Jessica did let us go - I'm certain of it." She added, pacing behind the cyberdesk.

" _Do we really have a choice? This is Argento we're talking about, people."_ Dani shuddered at his very name.  _"My mom told me about him - he's cruel and powerful and as dangerous as they come."_

"How'd your mom beat him?" Liam questioned, glancing at me, then Dani.

_ "She caught him by surprise. He didn't think that some Normo woman would stand up to him like that, let alone have the resources to kill him." _  Dani explained. She scowled.  _"But she said it took a lot to do so, and that was just him. We didn't have to worry about Faith, or Graham, or Carson or..."_ She trailed off.

"Or my mom." AJ finished sadly.

_ "They have a point. S.H.I.R.T. does have the advantage here." _  Kaz declared.

_ "But we have the numbers." _  Taylor insisted.

_ "Alright, there's only one way to do this." _  Chase decided. He looked around at everyone in the rec room, then back at the camera.  _"We vote. Majority wins."_

"All in favor of working with Miles?" Alivia questioned. Slowly but surely, almost every hand was raised, with the exception of Skylar, Taylor, Jaden, and Chase.

_ "I just can't trust someone I don't know." _  Taylor said by way of explanation. Rani nodded.

"And all in favor of working with Jessica?" She asked. This time, it was Alivia, Skylar, Kaz, Chase, and Calla who voted against the idea. But it didn't matter - they were outnumbered.

"I suppose we should go tell them the news." I sighed.

** Xxx **

"This better not be a mistake." Alivia warned, opening up the cell door. Admittedly, the fact that Jessica and Miles had agreed to being locked up while we made our decision was a show of good faith, but I knew for some of us, it wouldn't be enough.

"You're going to let us help you?" Jessica seemed surprised by the prospect.

"We voted and agreed on it. But I warn you - it wasn't a unanimous vote." Skylar replied coolly. She very clearly did not trust them, but in my opinion, we didn't have another choice if we were going to stop Argento.

"That's fine. We'll just have to earn your trust." Miles replied, determined yet serious.

"You can start by telling us about this artifact that they're searching for." Rani commented, turning to face them. She crossed her arms. "What is it and why do they want it?"

"It's a power source. Faith told me that Bosetti...I mean, Argento, wanted to use it to power our base off the grid, but I'm guessing that's not his end game." Miles explained. Jessica smirked.

"Oh, believe me, it's not." She looked at us, crossing her own arms. "He's dying."

"What?" I questioned, not having expected her to say that. She nodded.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," she said to Rani, as she began to walk around the room, "but bringing someone back from the dead requires an immense amount of power and magic, otherwise it doesn't work correctly, right?" Rani nodded silently. "Well, Sienna may know what she's doing, but she's not the most powerful witch out there. The spell brought them back, but she can't keep them on this world forever. Without another power source, they're going to die, sooner rather than later."

"And they think they can use this artifact to keep them alive?" Liam asked, eying them in disbelief. He looked back at his girlfriend. "Is that even possible?"

"Absolutely. Witches and warlocks have been using alien artifacts and ancient relics for centuries to power their spells. Grimoires, enchanted items, even alien technology like the Arcturion would all work to do something like that." She confirmed. She looked at Jess. "That's why you guys stole the Grimoire of Enodia."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Jessica mentioned, rubbing her neck with an apologetic half-smile on her face. "Anyway, they've been looking for something like this for a while now. It's why Faith was investigating Liam, Lily, Kieran, and Taylor's abilities - they were hoping to use them instead of a nearly impossible to find artifact. That was a dead end, but they're closing in on the artifact, and if they get it, not only will it bring Argento and Carson back to life, it'll also boost their powers, along with Sienna's magic."

"So, in other words, we need to stop them before they get it." Alivia nodded. "Any idea how long that will be?"

"Faith's preparing another excursion as we speak, but she has to run it by me first so I can get a tactical team. I can probably give you guys an hour heads up before they go for it, but no more than that."

"That's fine. We can work with that." Alivia assured him. Miles nodded. "Now, I need you to tell us everything about Faith, Argento, Graham, Sienna, and Carson."

** Dani's POV **

"Look who's home." I smiled as Calla and Chase walked into the penthouse, the latter carrying Emily in one arm and Calla's overnight bag in the other. It had been a couple of days since we'd made the deal with Jessica and Miles, and the baby's presence in the penthouse was a welcome distraction from the upcoming violence.

"Hey." Calla hugged me gently before sitting down on the couch. Chase carefully placed Emily in her arms before kissing her on the forehead and heading upstairs to put their things away.

"Hey, Noah." Bree, who'd been sitting on the ground with her son, lifted the kid to his feet and turned him to face Calla and Emily. "Say hello to your cousin, bug."

Noah responded by laughing and grabbing at Emily's tiny hand. "Gentle, Noah." Calla admonished gently, smiling at his obvious pleasure at Emily's presence. "You going to be like a big brother to Em, huh?"

"Oh yeah, he's totally going to big brother her, aren't you buddy?" Jaden chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

I couldn't help but smile at the sight of them. For a moment, they were just some normal, happy family. But only for a moment.

Jessica walked in just then, and everyone suddenly went on edge. "We have forty-six minutes until Miles has to approve Faith's request to go on a mission to find the artifact. Past that, he either gives himself away by refusing, or he gives her a tactical team."

"We don't want either of that." Chase replied, coming down the stairs. He looked over at the veranda, where most of the others were all hanging out, and waved to get their attention. After motioning for them to come in, he continued. "Alright, this is our window to go after Argento. It's not going to be easy, but we have them outnumbered. They may be more powerful, but we can't forget the advantages we do have, alright? We leave in ten minutes."

"Suit up, get your gear, and make sure you're prepared." Alivia added, looking at us. "Chase is right that this won't be an easy fight, so don't make it any harder for us by not being as prepared as you can be."

The others all nodded and began to disperse, some going upstairs for their uniforms, while others headed down to Mission Command for their equipment.

"I hate leaving you home alone with just Noah and Emily." Chase murmured. Calla gave him a smile and shook her head.

"I'm not alone - where's AJ?" She questioned.

"Your room." Skylar mentioned as she headed for the stairs. "He needed a place to crash."

"Well, wake him up. Tell him I'm going to need my favorite assistant." She instructed. Skylar smiled a little bit, and nodded.

"Why do you need an assistant?" Kaz inquired, confused.

"Because there's no way in hell I'm letting you guys go in alone. If I have to run Mission Command from this couch while watching the kids, I will." She declared. She looked at us. "Now, go. And be safe."

"I will." Chase promised her, leaning down to kiss her. She let her lips graze against his for a moment after pulling away.

"Come back home to us, you got it?" She questioned.

"I promise." He assured her before kissing her again, then pressing his lips to Emily's forehead. Giving them both one last smile, he turned and headed for Mission Command.

"Calla, he'll be fine. I promise." Jessica reassured her. The genius gave her a cold look. "I do owe you an apology, I think."

"Look, it's this simple: I don't trust you. You betrayed us, and while I'm okay with working with Miles, I didn't vote in your favor." Calla said bluntly. Kaz and I exchanged awkward looks.

"I am sorry." Jessica apologized. "For everything."

"You think an apology fixes things?" Calla questioned, narrowing her eyes.

"No, it doesn't and it shouldn't. But I just want you to understand that I wasn't trying to hurt you." Jessica insisted. Calla raised her head, eyes softening just a little.

"Stop Argento. You want my forgiveness and my trust back? Do what you said and stop him." Calla told her.

"I intend to." Jessica responded. Calla nodded.

"Good." She replied coolly. I cleared my throat, trying to draw the two of them away from this super awkward conversation.

"What about the NLH? They might be able to help." I suggested.

"There's no way they'll get here in time." Calla shook her head. "I'm going to call Jordan after you guys leave and let her know what's going on, but I doubt it'll do much."

"That's fine. We'll just have to kick Argento's ass ourselves." Kaz grinned confidently.

"You really think we can?" Over the past few days, we'd all been preparing like crazy. Rani had used her magic to mimic Argento and Carson's powers in our training. Miles had made sure we learned about all of the weapons Faith, being Argento's personal engineer, had built, including the ones she built a year and a half ago that had ended up on the black market (we actually had one of them, back from when a handful of train robbers had tried using them against Bree and Chase. Miles had confirmed that Faith had been the one to design them after recognizing a numeral signature on the side of it)  **(1)**. Hell, we'd even memorized the blueprints to the entire facility. But a part of me was still nervous that we wouldn't be able to win this battle.

"Where there's a will, there's a way, right?" Kaz reasoned. I gave him a confused smile.

"You're in awfully a good mood for what's about to happen. What's up?" I questioned. He smiled.

"I'll tell you after we beat the bad guys, alright?" He promised, kissing me on the lips. He grinned. "Let's go."

** Chase's POV **

"Glad you guys could make it." Miles smiled as I led us in through a secret fire escape on one of the lower levels to the underground base. "Don't worry about the cameras - I've got them running on a loop. We're safe so long as we're on this floor."

"Where are we, exactly?" Kaz questioned, glancing around.

"B-Level 1. It's just below the main entrance. Should give us quick access to Argento, Carson, and the others." Jessica explained.

_ "Yeah, I can see you guys." _  Calla added, her voice coming in through our ear pieces.  _"Kaz, two feet in front of you and you'd be directly underneath the door to Miles' office."_

"Cool." Kaz grinned, impressed.

"What about the other agents? Do we have to worry about them shooting at us?" Alivia questioned. Miles shook his head.

"Jess got me a list of the others that were kept in the dark. I've got them leading the others on training exercises or fake missions. Some of my old buddies at UPSEI are going to intercept them soon." He explained, smirking.

"In other words, we should have the entire base to ourselves, so we can take out Graham, Argento, Sienna, Carson, and Faith without any interruptions." Jessica added, smiling.

"It's so cute how you really think you're capable of doing that." Faith spoke up, stepping out of the shadows at the other end of the hall. Clearly she was ready for a fight - unlike last time, when she only had the one weapon, she was now armed with a large blaster, with another one strapped to her left thigh and some sort of device attached to her right. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice that my cameras had been messed with, babe?"

"I thought you'd be too busy plotting world domination. My bad." Miles retorted, slowly pulling two blasters out of his side holsters. He twisted one in his hand so that he was holding it by the barrell, and held it towards Jessica without taking his eyes off of Faith. "Jess, take the others, find Argento. I've got her."

"You could use a little help." Jaden mentioned, pulling out his own weapon. Faith smirked, amused.

"Howdy, cuz. You're really going to take me down?" She teased, cocking her weapon.

"Go." I told the others, raising my hand. My plasma bo appeared in the palm, and I gave my sister a confident smile. "Split up, don't let them double-team you. Our best advantage is our numbers, got it?"

"Got it." Bree nodded, giving Jaden and I a look that clearly warned us to be careful before motioning for Jessica to lead the way. Jessica grabbed the weapon Miles was offering her, then started leading them down the hall. Jaden, Miles, and I turned back to Faith.

"You do know that Argento chose me as his personal engineer for a reason, right? I build weapons to kill things like you for a living." She adjusted her grip on her weapon, pointing it at me.

"You haven't killed anyone yet." I reminded her, cocky. She raised an eyebrow.

"Better get started then." She replied before pulling the trigger.

** Dani's POV **

"We shouldn't have left them." Jessica muttered, even as she led us through the halls. Behind us, I could hear the sound of blaster fire, and for a moment, a part of me agreed.

"We didn't have a choice. They can take care of Faith, I'm sure of it." Lily assured her. Jessica nodded and led us up a set of stairs. We came out on the main level, near Miles' and Jessica's offices.

"Split up, like Chase said." Liam told us.

"Okay, you, Lily, and I-" Rani was cut off by the sound of Agent Graham's voice.

"Henderson! What the hell do you think you're doing? Did you not hear Parker's warning?" Graham demanded, coming forward, also holding a dangerous looking blaster. "What the hell?" He demanded, realizing who we were.

"Go." Jessica gave us a smile before whipping around, pulling her weapon out, and pulling the trigger. The blast missed - it flew just over Graham's shoulder - but it was enough to get us moving. We'd already agreed upon teams on our way up here, as a precaution, and we broke off, each of us heading in a different direction.

As I followed Kaz and Skylar to the North side of the base, I could see the others out of the corner of my eye. Taylor and Kieran decided to join with Jessica, unwilling to leave her to fight her former mentor alone, while Ollie, Alivia, and Bree went for the security office, where Jessica said Sienna liked to work when it was quiet. Meanwhile, Rani, Liam, and Lily headed for Argento's office. I hadn't liked that part of the plan - them going after Argento alone, but with Rani's magic, Lily's precognition, and Liam's ability to counteract the photon-blasters that Faith had developed after studying his light powers, it was the best plan we could come up with.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here." Carson mused, waiting for us as we turned the corner. He was standing next to the alarm button, the glass around it smashed and shattered. Not that there was any point in sounding off the alarm now. Carson smirked at our surprised looks. "An alien and two little freaks."

"If we're freaks, what does that make you?" I challenged. He smirked.

"A more powerful freak." He retorted raising his hands. The glass from the smashed alarm casing rose off the ground and soared towards us.

Kaz pushed me to the ground at the last minute, the two of us narrowly avoiding being hit by the tiny, deadly shards. Skylar, on the other hand, ducked behind the wall, to dodge them.

"You had to ask." Kaz muttered, pushing off of me. I smirked and rolled onto my side before attempting to get up, choosing to instead send a ball of lightning towards the criminal.

** Oliver's POV **

"Alright, Sienna. No one wants to hurt you if we can avoid it, so just come quietly and we'll let you see A-" Bree's voice died in her throat as she entered the security room. It wasn't until I pushed past her that I saw why.

"I see you weren't expecting me." Argento observed, getting up from his seat in front of the security monitors. Each screen was trained on a different fight going on through the complex - Chase, Kaz, and Miles fending off Faith, Taylor, Kieran, and Jessica going after Graham, my sister, Kaz, and Skylar avoiding Carson's attacks, and Rani, Liam, and Lily surrounding Sienna in Argento's office. "Oh, I told my daughter she could use my office while I worked on retrieving my grandson."

"You wanted to catch us off guard." One of Alivia's duplicates observed. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the other two right behind me, all of them glaring at Argento.

"I thought it would make things more interesting." He agreed, smirking a little. He looked at me. "I take it you know who I am?"

"We do. You're finished, Argento." I snarled, raising my hands and preparing to attack. He hummed thoughtfully at my words, unfazed.

"Bridget thought so too. But now look at us - I'm about to destroy the Elite Force once and for all while she rots in a prison cell." He mentioned. He stopped, smiling to himself. "I think I'll pay her a visit once I'm through with you, let her know I followed through with my promise to eliminate you and your sister."

"You have to beat us, first." Alivia reminded him. Without waiting for him to reply, I raised my hand and sent a ball of plasma his way. He didn't move in the slightest, but the panel of steel in front of him ripped from the ground to shield him from the attack. After my icy blast did nothing more than leave a frosty mark in it, I saw Argento wave his hand and the metal twisted before our eyes. It ripped itself apart until there were a dozen slivers of it, all jagged and about the size of a ruler. Looking almost bored, he waved his hand again and the slivers of metal raced towards us, each one of them aimed for one of our hearts.


	15. Heroes

** Kaz's POV **

"This isn't working!" Dani shouted, snapping her head to the side to avoid getting blinded as the swarm of glass shards came flying towards her again. Skylar blasted them from where she stood, but only succeeded in getting rid of some of them - most of them were simply breaking up in to smaller, harder to see but no less dangerous, pieces. Dani followed suit, shooting a bolt of lightning at them, only to scowl when the attack did virtually nothing. She glanced at me helplessly. "This is why I don't like insulators!" She snapped.

I grimaced in agreement, raising my own hand to send a ball of fire towards the glass. But to my disappointment (though not my surprise), the glass flew out of the fire, undisturbed in their flight path.

"We have to take Carson out." I said to Skylar as she backed into the wall I was using to protect myself from the attacks. Dani was on the other side, none of us able to get into the hallway where Carson was controlling the glass from without making ourselves an easy target.

"No shit, Sherlock, but how do we propose we do that?" The Calderan challenged. "We can't even get in there to send a distance attack, let alone one close enough that his glass swarm won't be able to stop it."

"Well, what we're doing right now isn't working." I argued.

"Guys!" Dani cried, raising her hand to send sparks out at the glass that dared to come too close. Her powers may not be effective against the glass, but they were enough to defend herself. "Not the time!"

"Kaz." Skylar glanced at me, then nodded at the space in front of the hallway. Already having been thinking the same thing, I nodded and raised my hands, shooting out a continuous fiery burst from my hands. Skylar jumped behind the fire, completely hidden from Carson's line of sight, and sent a blast of plasma through the fire. Now, my fire may have slowed down the attack, but the sound of shattering glass in front of us proved that Skylar's attack still went through and hit the swarm head on. I doubted that the blast stopped it, but it certainly shrank the glass swarm at least a little.

"We need a better plan." Skylar stated. Dani sucked a breath in through her teeth.

"Well, I've got a plan, but it's not necessarily a good one." She mentioned. Skylar and I both looked at her expectantly, knowing that even a bad plan was better than what we had right now. "You guys remember the first time we fought Megahertz?"

"Oh God." Skylar muttered, remembering that fiasco.

"You remember how that didn't actually work, right? Tecton still had to save the day." I reminded Dani. She gave me a look. "No, it's a bad idea."

"Do you have anything better?" She retorted. I struggled to come up with an answer, but the truth was, I didn't have one. "It's all we've got, Kaz. Just be ready, okay?"

I sighed, not liking the plan one bit. "Be careful." I warned, lowering my hand and stopping the burst of fire. She nodded and gave me her signature 'I'm Dani and I think I'm immortal' smile before stepping right into the line of fire.

"Hey! Ugly!" She shouted, spreading her arms wide as she stepped into the hallway.

** Jaden's POV **

In the past few years, I'd faced bionic psychopaths, vengeful shapeshifters, and the most disturbing case of bad parenting that I'd ever seen, so I figured that Miles, Chase, and I would be able to handle Faith in a matter of minutes, then go to help the others. I was mistaken.

"Who builds a sonic blaster?" I shouted, hands clutching my ears as Faith's weapon sounded off. Miles and Chase were both doubled over as well, the latter having released his plasma bo in his desperation to protect his already sensitive ears.

No one answered me, though I couldn't be sure they had heard me in the first place. As Faith's weapon finally stopped sending sonic waves directly at us, she pulled out another weapon - an automatic Sig Sauer, if I wasn't mistaken - and aimed it at Chase.

Miles scrambled for his own weapon, one hand still clutching his head. Chase, on the other hand, was still struggling to recover from the sonic, his bionic ears making the attack so much worse on him than it was for us.

"Faith!" I shouted, trying to distract her away from Chase. I'd dropped my blaster when her sonic weapon went off, but right now, I was just hoping to keep her attention long enough for Miles to take her out. "Why are you doing this? We're family."

"Our blood doesn't make us family, Jaden. And our conquest is too important to be stopped by my cousin." She retorted, stopping just long enough to snap at me. I smiled a little.

"What about your ex?" I questioned. Before she could react, Miles flipped his blaster around in his hand and shot Faith in the knee. She went down, and I charged at her, intending to pin her down and cuff her from behind. Even injured, though, Faith was prepared for an attack, and twisted her torso at the last minute to slam her elbow into my crotch with all her might. I dropped to my knees in agony, clutching the area.

Thankfully, Chase had finally recovered and rejoined the fight, swinging his plasma bo staff around dangerously as he approached. Faith smirked, but refused to engage with him in a bo staff fight, instead turning her sonic blaster towards him. I pushed myself towards her, using my weight to bring her from her knees onto her back, but it wasn't until after she'd already pulled the trigger. The sonic waves went wild from their target and hit Miles instead, the concentrated power of the blast enough to send him into the air.

However, it did give Chase a chance to approach her, and at the last minute, I rolled off of her, giving him the room to attack. Using his telekinesis, he sent her sliding across the ground until she hit the wall behind her with a loud thud. "I don't want to have to hurt you, Faith. No one has died yet, and no one has to. Come quietly, and we'll see what we can do about getting you a lessened sentence."

To my surprise, Faith laughed at that. "Yeah...no thanks."

Before any of us could react, she raised her gun, which I had failed to realize was still in her hands, and pulled the trigger.

** Bree's POV **

At the sight of the deadly pieces of metal, I sped into Alivia and Oliver, pushing them out of harm's way. The pieces of metal barely missed us, either burying themselves into the wall behind us, or flying through the open door.

"You really think we can be taken out by floor tiles?" One of Alivia's duplicates teased before it charged directly at the superhuman, while another one darted to the left, trying to hit him from the side. The third took the unconventional route, literally leaping at the wall only to push off it in his direction for extra power. Meanwhile, Oliver and I did our best to help - I sped towards Argento from a different angle, hoping that the four direct attackers would confuse him, while Oliver used his powers to create a number of large, frozen, stalactites in the ceiling above him.

Argento, however, wasn't having it. With the snap of his fingers, the metal paneling on the floor beneath me and two of Alivia's duplicates rippled like a wave, tripping us all up. I stumbled and was unable to slow down enough to stop my fall. Alivia's two duplicates tripped over the sudden wave in the floor, one falling on her knees while the other managed to keep going. Not that Argento could care less about not being able to stop the , for he used his powers to control the chair next to him. He threw it into the air, hitting the third duplicate with it so hard that she went flying into the Alivia that was still standing.

Meanwhile, Oliver finally dropped his stalactites, the base of the icy spikes now the size of basketballs.

Argento was waiting for it, however, the metal panels on the walls to the left and right flying over his head to prevent himself from being hit. The stalactites still did some damage, creating rather larger dents in the panels, but it wasn't enough to stop him.

"Is that truly the best your team has to offer?" Argento questioned, unamused. When none of us answered, he shook his head. "Naïve children and their unsupported optimism."

He raised one hand and twitched his fingers. That slight movement caused the metal to twist and shred itself again, giving him another three dozen weapons to use against us.

"Liv." Oliver said, glancing back at the redhead, but there was no need - Alivia had already merged back together with her duplicates, reducing the number of targets that Argento had to one. While her powers were usually very useful, but in a situation like this, it only made us more vulnerable to have too many fighting on our side. As much as I'd like to call the others to our sides, there wasn't much room in this security room anyway.

Argento went to attack us with the shards again, but this time, Oliver raised a wall of ice between us, giving us a brief reprieve from the attacks. He glanced back at us, breathless. "I hope the others are doing better than we are."

** Jaden's POV **

"Chase!" I shouted as my brother-in-law went down. Faith laughed in satisfaction, pushing herself to her feet with a gleeful smile. A second voice was screaming in my ear, Calla having evidently seen everything unfold from her monitors at the penthouse.

"Faith!" Miles shouted, shocked, even as he turned his weapon on her. She raised her hands slightly, the gun pointing upwards in her right hand. "Drop the gun."

"I can't believe you're on their side." She retorted, choosing not to do as he asked. "They're the enemy, Miles!"

_ "Jaden? Jaden, is he okay?" _  Calla demanded, voice on the verge of panic. I scrambled over to him, still being careful to keep Miles and Faith in eyeshot in case something else went wrong.

"Enemy? The only one here who wants to kill anybody is you! How does that not scream that you're on the wrong side?" Miles snapped, shaking his head at his crazy ex-girlfriend. He glanced back at me, not taking his weapon off of her. "How is he?"

"Chase, man, talk to me." I said, scrambling over to him. He didn't so much talk as he did groan, but hey, I'll take what I can get. Luckily, the bullet missed the important parts of his chest, instead going through his side. If he was really lucky, it may have even missed his liver, but for now, I was just glad that he was still alive. "He's still with us."

"Not sure...I want...to be..." Chase groaned again, hands wandering to the still-bleeding wound.

"Calla, he's alright. We haven't lost him yet." I promised my sister, one hand on my comm. I looked at Chase. "Can you stand?"

"Think so." He muttered, raising his head. I offered him my hand and pulled him to his feet. He swayed a little, but managed to keep standing. One hand was pressed to the wound, a pained grimace on his face.

"I've got her. You guys go find medical - it should be near the main entrance." Miles called over his shoulder.

"Oh, you've got me, do you?" Faith teased, clearly unimpressed. She played with the gun in her hand. "Please, we both know that you're not going to shoo-"

Miles didn't even hesitate before pulling the trigger of his blaster. Because she was already up against the wall, the blast hit Faith so hard her head rebounded against the metal paneling and she slid to the ground, unconscious.

"Enough people have suffered for this." He muttered, pulling out a pair of cuffs.

"Babe, I'm okay." Chase muttered. I glanced at him to see one hand pressed against his comm. He slowly lowered it, then looked back at Miles with a pained grimace. "Where did you say medical was?"

** Calla's POV **

"Oh my God." I pressed my hands together in front of my face, just touching my nose as I watched Jaden help Chase towards a section my blueprints had labeled as 'Med Bay'. I could feel my heart racing in my chest, the sounds of everyone's comms dulled in my ears as I reminded myself over and over again that he was alive.

"I can't believe Faith shot him." AJ commented, glancing at me from where he was sitting next to the cot I'd had him bring down from Emily's room. I nodded silently, glancing between each of the screens in search of more casualties.

Oliver, Bree, and Alivia were holding their ground, just barely, against Argento. They were almost powerless against him, but thankfully, they seemed to be able to keep themselves from getting killed. It wasn't much, but it would have to do until the others could provide them backup.

Graham was doing surprisingly well against Taylor, Kieran, and Jessica. Perhaps it was because he'd gotten a couple of the agents who'd stayed behind to help him out. It didn't matter - even from here, I could see my friends slowly gaining ground on them. Still, one badly aimed shot on their part, or a lucky shot on Graham's side, would change the whole course of the fight.

Kaz, Dani, and Skylar were...well, up until a moment ago, they'd been doing just as badly as Alivia, Oliver, and Bree, but now...Well, I didn't know what Dani was thinking opening herself up to Carson's line of fire like that, but I knew it was stupid, likely to get her killed, and probably the best idea they could come up with given the circumstances.

I looked at Sienna's security screen last, knowing that AJ had barely taken his eyes off of it since Rani, Liam, and Lily had approached her. Liam, Lily, and Rani were all experience fighters, they should have been able to take a soccer mom down with ease, but Sienna was clearly using her advanced spell-knowledge to her advantage. I couldn't hear the words she was saying, but it was like she was in command of the entire room. Desk drawers were flying around like projectiles, pens and erasers like bullets. The lights were flickering, and it was all Rani could do to cast spells to cancel out Sienna's. But Sienna had a more powerful list of spells at her disposal, and Rani was tiring out fast. If she went down, Lily and Liam wouldn't be able to protect her and fight off Sienna at the same time.

"I wish there was something I could do." I muttered anxiously. I was trying to hide it for AJ's sake - he already had enough on his mind without having me freak out - but I was scared. I was terrified. I wasn't sure if Chase, Bree, Jaden, or any of the others were going to walk away from this.

"You're giving them heads up from here in case any more agents come." AJ pointed out. I shook my head.

"It's not enough. I'm useless from here." I rubbed my eyes, trying to hide the tears of frustration from showing. "I can't do anything - they might as well be alone in the dark."

"I'm sure they don't feel that way..." AJ mentioned, trying to cheer me up. I frowned, wheels spinning. "What?"

"They're alone in the dark." I repeated. He nodded, not following but knowing from experience that this tone meant I had an idea. I grabbed a comm and took a deep breath to steady myself. "Hey, Rani. Question for you: how far can your magic go?"

** Kaz's POV **

"Are you kidding me?" Carson stopped short, an amused smirk on his face. "Now what do you think you're doing?"

"Well," Dani shrugged, taking another step closer to Carson. From here, I could see her smirk growing, trying to look a lot more confident in her plan than I was sure she felt, "I figured, if I have to go out, I might as go out being as obnoxious as possible."

Carson raised an eyebrow at that. "If that's what you want." He replied, deciding not to care. I saw him raise his hand and twist his wrist until the glass swarm stopped. Then, he twitched his wrist and the swarm charged at her.

"Dee!" I shouted before shooting a ball of fire at her. At the same time, Skylar threw a plasma ball in the same direction. Dani dropped low, leaning so far back that, aside from the hands she was using to balance herself, she was practically horizontal. Skylar's plasma blast hit the glass swarm before it could hit Dani, causing it to shatter and scatter for a brief moment, just long enough for my fireball to break through and hit Carson in the chest. He stumbled back a few paces, letting out an angry cry of pain, but Dani didn't give him the chance to recover. She flipped over completely, then, without a second's hesitation, sent a blast of electricity his way.

Unfortunately, Carson recovered much quicker than we thought, and by time Dani's electrical blast reached him, he had moved the glass swarm, somehow still functional, in front of him to act as a shield. The lightning hit the tiny shards harmlessly, giving Carson a chance to recover completely. I went to fire again - now that Dani was in the hallway, but just close enough to the edge that Skylar and I could still attack without hurting her, I could hit him with the full force of my powers - but then, something unexpected happened.

The lights went out.

"What the hell?" Skylar demanded as the entire base suddenly went completely dark.

_ "I thought of another thing we could take advantage of. Give it a sec."  _ Calla replied, her voice oddly cheerful in the comms despite the darkness. But just as she'd warned, a second later, my vision started to return. There was something wrong with it - though I could see everything, it was like everything was bathed in a golden, yellow glow.  _"Better?"_

"How are you doing this?" Dani whispered.

_ "You can thank Rani for it later. Right now, kick ass." _  Calla replied.

"With pleasure." I muttered, turning towards Carson.

"What the hell did you freaks do?" He demanded. I could see the glass swarm sticking close to him as he swiveled his head, unsure of where the next attack would come from. Skylar motioned for Dani and Ito change our stances, and we did. Skylar took her place behind Carson, being careful to move as quietly as possibly, while Dani made as much noise as she could to keep his focus on her as she slowly moved to Carson's left.

I smirked, looking at the confused villain as I stood no more than a few feet in front of him. "Hey, Carson." I called, creating a fireball in my hand, just in front of me. He reacted as expected, taking a shot for my stomach. I backed up just enough to avoid the hit, and Dani went in for her chance, slamming into him from the side. Once he was off kilter, Skylar took the final shot, shooting him in the head with the largest plasma ball I'd ever seen her create.

This attack knocked him out cold, his body hitting the ground with a soft thud. I knelt down next to check his pulse and to make sure he was really unconscious. "Good idea, Calla." I commented, smirking.

** Bree's POV **

"Calla, you're a genius." I complimented as our vision returned in the darkness.

"I see Calla Davenport has managed to get herself into our systems." Argento observed, standing in the darkness. I could see the metal shards twirling in the air, not moving anywhere, but ready to become impossibly fast projectiles at any moment. "She thinks she's quite clever, doesn't she? Sienna, would you please handle this?"

I didn't answer, instead watching as Oliver created a cryoball in his hands. I waited for Alivia to split up again and for her duplicates to get into position, before readying myself at the door. I waited for Oliver to nod as his signal – silent, so as to not alert Argento to our plans – then sped at the villain just as Alivia's duplicates charged and Oliver shot the cryoball. But the moment we moved, the ground beneath Argento disappeared and he fell through a black hole. All of Alivia's duplicates and I stopped just in time to avoid following him, then looked at the hole in confusion as it closed up again. "Where'd he go?" Alivia demanded.

_ "Rani, Liam, and Lily just lost Sienna too. Give me a - wait, there they are!" _  Calla proclaimed in our ears.  _"The conference area, in the main part of the base. Careful - he and Sienna are together now."_

"Thanks." I reached for Oliver and Alivia, now down to one again, then sped them towards the section that Calla had mentioned.

To our disappointment, Sienna had figured out a way around Calla and Rani's little darkness scheme - bright blue orbs of light surrounded the area, not only providing Sienna and Argento with a perfect light source, but also adding an eerie feel to the room.

"Did you really think turning out the lights would stop us?" Argento questioned as Oliver, Alivia and I approached him.

"Face it, you've lost." Sienna told us. She glanced hesitantly at her father, then continued. "If you stand down, surrender, and tell us where AJ is, we won't have to kill you."

"First of all, no one is handing AJ back over to you. We all know better than to put a kid back in that kind of living situation." Alivia snapped, protective of the kid even though she herself had only known him for a couple of months. "And second of all, do you really expect us to believe that you won't kill us? You kidnapped our friends, sent a team of armed assailants to murder us in our home...why would we believe you?"

"That kind of living situation? You kidnapped my son!" Sienna snapped at us, furious.

"We saved him from you." Rani argued, slowly coming down the stairs. Liam and Lily were right behind her. All of them looked worse for wear, but I was reassured by the fact that I couldn't see any serious injuries from here. "He's a hell of a lot safer away from you."

Sienna glowered at her, but before she could retort, Argento stepped in.

"Enough." He said calmly. He looked at his daughter. "Sienna, I tire of this. Surely you have a spell that can end this quickly? We need to retrieve your brother from the children who managed to capture him."

"I don't think I have a spell than can just capture all of them." Sienna mentioned softly, watching us all warily.

"I did not say capture." Argento replied sternly. Sienna looked at him, hesitant. "Do it. We will retrieve Andrew once we are finished here."

Sienna sighed, obviously not liking it, but going along with his plan for AJ's sake.

"Exsugere caeli." She murmured, raising her hand towards the ceiling. Before I could turn and ask Rani what that spell was supposed to do, the air above our heads began to almost...twist. It was like when you drain a full tub, except that it was the air that was draining, swirling around a random point in the air as it evacuated the room. Already, I could feel my lungs fighting to breathe as the air became thinner and thinner. "Da Patrem caeli. Da mi caeli." Sienna continued, sucking in a deep breath.

I looked at the others, panicked as I tried to come up with a plan. But without being able to breathe, I knew I wouldn't be able to run at them, let alone fast enough to take Sienna out. One glance at the others told me that they were facing the same trouble.

** Calla's POV **

"Shit! Uh...I could...no..." I trailed off, unsure of what to do. This is why I hated magic - I couldn't just flip a switch and turn her off, or send a new code to change the spell's function. This was completely out of my ability to fix, and because of that, Chase and the others were going to die.

"Calla." AJ spoke up.

"What?" I demanded, not looking away from my screen.

"I have an idea." He continued. That got my attention. I spared him a quick glance before turning my attention back to the screen. Sienna's spell wasn't just affecting the room she and Argento were in - judging by the panicked looks on everyone's faces, it was also affecting the medical bay along with the upper offices.

"What is it, AJ?" I questioned desperately.

"You're just going to have to trust me." He told me, looking at me with wide, desperate eyes.

** Bree's POV **

I coughed and spluttered, trying desperately to catch a breath. Sienna wasn't looking at us, instead focusing intently on the ground. I didn't think she wanted to do this - I was pretty sure Argento was forcing her to - but it didn't matter. AJ was enough of a motivation for her to eliminate each and every one of us here and now.

At least Calla wasn't here. She had Noah with her, he would be okay. Even if Jaden and I weren't, he would be, and that was what mattered.

"Bree!" I could hear my sister-in-law screaming in my ear, but it was hard to focus on her words. Between the roaring of the air rushing from the room and the heavy beatings of my own heart, I could barely hear anything. "Bree! Listen to me! Hit the alarm!"

The alarm...?

"The alarm, Bree! It's the only idea we've got! You've got to hit it!" Calla continued. I didn't understand what that would do, or if it would even do anything at all, but it wasn't like any more options.

I stumbled over to the alarm button, hidden behind a glass case. I imagined that this was intended to be used for fires or perhaps intrusions like ours. How this would help us was beyond my understanding, but all I could do was trust Calla and hope it worked out in our favor.

I slammed my fist into the glass with all my might and watched as the glass shards flew into the hole that Sienna was draining our air into. Then I hit the alarm and prayed.

"Mom!" Instead of some loud, blaring alarm, it was AJ's voice that came out of the speakers in the corners of the room. "Mom, stop! Please! They're my friends."

"AJ?" Sienna looked up at her son's voice. She looked around, as if expecting him to be there. "Honey, where are you? Where did they take you?"

"Somewhere safe, but Mom, you have to stop." AJ pleaded with her. "They're good people, and they don't deserve to die for Grandpa's little grudge match."

"Show a little respect, Andrew." Argento snarled. I coughed, sinking to my knees as my vision started to blur. This wasn't good.

"Please, Mom. Don't kill them. Don't become like him." AJ begged.

"I'm trying to protect you! They're not as good as you think, honey. For goodness sake's, one of them helped kill your uncle!"

"No, Bridget killed Uncle Carson. Dani couldn't stop her, true, but it was Bridget who killed him." AJ paused before continuing. "Do you know how she became a villain, Mom? How she became one of the most feared people on this planet? Grandpa threatened her children, and all she wanted was to protect them. But she went too far. You still have a chance to be better than her."

I saw the others struggling to stay conscious now too, and I prayed that something AJ was saying would get through to Sienna.

"AJ..." Sienna trailed off.

"Please, Mom. Don't be like her. I don't want this kind of protecting, okay?" I could hear AJ's voice wavering as he became more and more emotional. "All I want is my mom."

And then, just as I thought I was going to pass out, I felt air returning to my lungs. Looking up, through the slowly receding black dots, I saw Sienna lower her hands from the hole that was slowly growing smaller and smaller.

"Sienna!" Argento snapped, turning on his daughter. She shook her head, backing away from him.

"Bridget Short stole my family from me. She took my father, my brother...but if helping you get revenge means becoming like her, I can't be on your side."

"You insolent brat!" Argento snapped, raising his hand. A piece of the metal paneling shot upwards to hit her in the face, knocking her down on the ground.

"Hey!" Rani snapped, raising her hands. Liam joined her, and together they blasted the metal tile with a twisted blast of pure light and pitch black shadows.

Oliver smirked and raised his own hand, sending a cryoblast towards the metal manipulator. He blocked it with another slab of metal before using another three metal tiles to black incoming attacks from Kaz, Dani, and Skylar, who had entered the room shortly after Sienna had released her spell.

"Oh, I like this plan!" Jessica called, entering with Kieran and Taylor at her heels. She aimed her weapon at Argento and sent a powerful purple blast at his head. It was, of course, blocked by another metal tile, but that didn't stop her from continuously firing.

"I see we're all getting in on this action?" Chase teased as he, Jaden, and Miles joined us at last. Jaden and Miles turned their weapons on Argento, only for their attacks to be blocked at well.

"You okay?" I questioned, noticing how Chase was holding his side.

"Looks worse than it is." He assured me.

"But you're still going to go to Mighty Med after this to get it checked out." Calla added, not leaving room in her tone for argument. Chase chuckled, then sucked in a breath when the movement pulled on his injury.

"Yes, dear." He promised. He looked at Alivia, Lily, Kieran, Taylor, and I, the only ones without blasting powers or weapons. "Charge?" He suggested, smirking.

"Charge!" Alivia grinned and ran in towards Argento. He tried to block her off, but with half of us keeping his focus divided by trying to blast him and half of us directly attacking him, it was impossible for him to fend all of us off at once.

In the end, it was Taylor who got the first shot in - a sharp kick to the groin, as revenge for keeping her and Kieran locked up for so long - and one by one, we each got a blow in. I got the final attack, Chase using his plasma bo staff to force Argento up against the wall before stepping back to allow me to speed punch him. The hit was so strongly boosted by the speeds I was moving at that it knocked him clean out, his body hitting the ground with a satisfying bang.

"Well, that was...fun." Kaz commented, smirking triumphantly. I looked back at him, then at Sienna, who was still sitting on the ground. She was watching Argento with wary eyes, one hand on her bruised chin, before she pointedly looked away. I looked away from her at Alivia and Chase.

"So, who's calling UPSEI this time?" I asked.

** Bree's POV **

"Davenport's sending the jet for you guys." I announced, walking back in from the hall. Kieran and Taylor were sitting on the ground in front of the couch, playing with Noah. "It should be here in a few hours. I warn you though - Katherine, Rio, and Logan are all going to be on it."

"Rio's going to kill us." Kieran mentioned to his girlfriend. Taylor laughed in agreement.

"That's certainly an understatement." She agreed.

"Well, maybe they can stay for dinner. That'll hopefully buy you some time before your demise." Calla teased, walking back down the stairs from Emily's nursery. I could still see her moving a little stiffly, but as nearly a week had passed since Emily's birth, she was moving a lot more comfortably than the day she'd come home from the hospital.

"Do you have enough? No one wants to impose." Taylor told her.

Calla shook her head. "Nah, we've got plenty. After all, we didn't know that you guys weren't staying until after already put it in the oven."

"Sorry about that, but you know how it goes - one emergency is followed by another." Lily apologized as Alivia and Rani dropped their bags on the ground by the door. Lily turned to us. "Thank you so much for everything you guys have done for us."

"Seriously. You guys probably saved our lives." Liam added, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Any time." Skylar assured them. She looked around, noticing that we were missing a few guys. "Where are Kaz, Dani, Chase, and AJ? They should say goodbye."

"Well, Kaz is upstairs, saying goodbye to Dani, I think." Oliver explained, a small smile on his face. I knew that Dani had already talked to him about her decision to stay with the New League of Heroes after all of this, and while he accepted it, he was definitely sad to see her go. "And I think Chase and AJ are upstairs too. Chase said he wanted to show AJ something."

"I'll go get them." Jaden offered, kissing me on the cheek before heading up the stairs.

** Kaz's POV **

"Hey, I think we should maybe talk." I started, coming into Dani's room. She was standing by her bed, folding clothes to put in her bag. She glanced at me as I came in, lifted her head a little, but didn't look at me.

"I...Do we have to?" She asked slowly. I frowned.

"Is there a reason we can't?" I questioned, confused. She sighed and sat down on the bed, looking up at me with her big, beautiful eyes.

"Because I think I know how this ends. And I don't want it to end." She murmured. I shook my head, amused.

"The last time I checked, Lily was the only psychic we knew." I replied, smirking. She gave me a look.

"Kaz, I'm not coming back." She told me seriously, her voice strained a little. "Look, I love you, and I love Ollie, and the rest of the team, but the League is my home now. It's where I belong."

"I know. I wasn't going to try and convince you to leave." I promised. She raised her head, surprised. "I mean, I was going to try to convince you to take a vacation..."

"A vacation." She repeated, as if the word were foreign to her. I chuckled and sat down on the bed next to her.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure we deserve it." I pointed out. "And besides, something occurred to me: we can both FLY, and yet we still haven't gone to Europe yet. Didn't you want to see Paris?"

"I mean, yes, but we're superheroes - we can't just up and leave." Dani pointed out, turning to me.

"The League's got enough heroes on the payroll now that we actually can. And with Argento being in prison, it's going to take time for the villain world to recover enough to prepare yet another superhero apocalypse, so I think we should enjoy it while we can."

"I'll have to talk to Liv..." Dani sighed, smiling a little at the idea. I grinned, knowing that Alivia would definitely approve of the idea. Then Dani's smile faded. "But then what? Do you...do you want to try long distance? It worked for Bree and Jaden."

"Hell no, I'm not doing long distance - it never works out long term." I pointed out. Dani crossed her arms.

"Then what do you expect us to do? I'm not rejoining the Force, Kaz." She stated, frustrated. I smiled.

"I know. Which is why I'm joining the League." I told her. She stared at me for a full minute, shocked.

"What?" Was all she could say. I laughed.

"I'm joining the New League of Heroes." I repeated myself. Her eyes widened, lit up like it was Christmas. "Look, the Elite Force is great and all, but I think we all know that we're all kinda moving on with our lives. And I already worked it out with Alivia and-"

Dani didn't even give me the chance to finish before she grabbed me on either side of my face and pulled me in for a kiss.

** Jaden's POV **

"So, what do you think?" I heard Chase say as I approached the last bedroom, the one that used to belong to Mr. Davenport. Looking inside, I saw that all of Davenport's old furniture had been removed, and replaced with something more befitting of a teenager. There was a blue queen-sized bed, a desk with numerous devices on it, and a number of posters of both scientists and rock bands on the bedroom walls.

"It's...it's cool." AJ replied, dropping his backpack on the bed. Chase nodded, crossing his arms.

"I mean, you can change anything you'd like about it. I kinda just guessed at what you would like. And we can go grab your stuff from your mom's tomorrow to make it feel more like home." He continued. AJ nodded, looking around.

"Can I get a TV in here?" He questioned hopefully. Chase smiled, glad that AJ was taking an interest in the room.

"Talk to Skylar - I think she's moving into Oliver's room sometime this week, and I'm sure she'll let you have the TV that was in her old room." He told the kid. I knocked on the door, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping.

"Hey guys. I think Rani, Lily, Liam, and Alivia are leaving now. They wanted to say goodbye." I mentioned, stepping in so they could see me.

"Alright." AJ shrugged, heading past me to go downstairs. I looked at Chase.

"How's he doing?" I asked, concerned. Chase frowned.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I think he's doing better than we expected, but for all I know he could be internalizing it." He replied, shoving his hands in his pockets. "We're going to keep an eye on him, though. Give him someone to talk to if he needs it, keep him on track and stuff."

I nodded. "How long do you guys have custody?" I inquired, following him out of the room.

"Well, Sienna signed papers giving him to us until the trial, which won't be for a few months. After that...well, it'll depend on what her sentence is, but it's probably going to be a few years."

"And you guys are okay with this? I mean, you're brand new to the parenting business." I pointed out. Chase chuckled nervously, nodding in agreement.

"It is going to take some figuring out." He admitted before stopping at the girls' room. He knocked on the door. "Dani, Kaz, you guys coming to say goodbye or not?"

"Fine." A very dramatic sigh came from the room. Chase smirked and looked at me.

"And besides, I've been dealing with them for years. How much harder can a teenager and a baby be than a bunch of adolescent superheroes?" He mentioned.

** Kaz's POV **

"Hey, man. I brought desert." I declared, walking out onto the veranda with a couple of plates of cherry pie in my hands. Oliver took a piece gratefully before turning back to look at the skyline. "So, I think we should talk..."

"If it's about you leaving to join the New League of Heroes, I already know." Oliver mentioned. I stared at him, surprised. "I overheard you and Alivia talking a week ago. Was wondering when you were going to tell me."

"To be fair, I just told Dani before dinner. You're like the second person I told, aside from when I asked Alivia if I could." I defended myself. Oliver shrugged.

"I'm not mad." He assured me. I nodded slowly and leaned against the wall next to him. "It is going to be weird not having you guys here, though."

"Believe me, it's going to be weird not having you around too." I agreed. I glanced at him. "But dude, we're going to visit, you know. So often that you'll get sick of us."

"I doubt that." Oliver chuckled. He was quiet for a moment. "I'm happy for you guys. You know that right? I know I wasn't always the happiest about my best friend dating my sister, but I am happy for you two."

"We know, man." I patted his shoulder, reassuring him. "And you've got Skylar, which is pretty awesome. You guys going to get an apartment around here?"

"Well, the penthouse is filling up pretty fast." Oliver mentioned, looking over his shoulder at AJ and Emily, the two newest residents of the penthouse. "But nah, I have other plans."

"Yeah?" I looked at him, waiting. He smiled and looked at me.

"So, Horace wants to open another Mighty Med 2.0. He'd been talking about it before the first one was destroyed - it's just inconvenient for all the intergalactic heroes to have to come to Earth every time they're hurt." He explained.

"Especially since the ambulances can't exactly travel through space." I remembered. He nodded.

"Exactly. So, he wants to open another one on another planet, and he wants me to run it." Oliver continued proudly.

"Dude, that's awesome!" I grinned. Oliver had been in charge of our Mighty Med 2.0. before I'd gone and changed the timeline - he would be amazing at running another one. "Any idea which planet?"

"A few places were mentioned for locations. Caldera's among them." He continued. I opened my mouth to say how perfect that would be for Skylar, but then it hit me just where Caldera was.

"And here I thought I was going too far away." I mentioned. He bumped his shoulder with mine.

"Hey, it's not that far - Calla's going to be sending the League new wormhole transporters soon. And I'm not leaving yet - we still need funding just to build the place." Oliver reasoned.

"Still. I can't believe how fast things are changing." I said, shaking my head.

"Yeah." Oliver nodded. He smiled and looked at me. "But not everything changes."

"Such as?" I challenged, curious. He smirked and turned towards the door.

"Hey! Dee!" He called. A moment later, Dani's head poked through the door.

"Yeah, Ollie?" She asked. He waved for her to join us. She smiled in confusion, but headed out onto the veranda. Ollie put his arms around us and pulled us close.

"One last commemorative fake photo?" Oliver suggested. Dani and I both smiled at the same time. My girlfriend raised her hand as if holding a camera.

"Say superheroes." She teased before pretending to press the button.

"Superheroes." I grinned.


	16. End of an Era

** Calla's POV **

"No, no, you're putting too much in." Oliver grabbed the milk carton out of my hands, preventing me from pouring any more in. I frowned, confused.

"But the recipe says..." I trailed off when he began to shake his head. "I know how to read, Oliver. It definitely says two cups of milk."

He put the carton down with a sigh. "If you put more than a cup and a half, it'll taste weird." He explained. He smiled a little. "When it comes to cooking, you can't always follow the recipe."

I stared at him. "Then why would they have one if you weren't supposed to follow it?" This was why I didn't like cooking. They gave you clear instructions, and you were supposed to completely ignore them. It was asinine! "You know what, this is why I never cook."

"Yeah, that's why." He grumbled. He waved me off. "I can finish; you don't have to help."

"Fine." I rolled my eyes and moved to take a seat at the counter. I sat down and looked at him while he cooked. Oliver's eyes glanced up at me before turning their attention back to the meal.

"What?" He asked, glancing at the recipe he had literally just told me to not follow.

"Skylar told me the news." I told him, smiling. His lips spread, smiling a little. "Congrats."

"Thanks." He replied, grabbing the pasta box. I bit the inside of my lip.

"I've got a question for you." I continued. He chuckled a little and looked up at me.

"Let me guess; it's either 'are you going to ask her to marry you' or 'will the baby look weird because it's an alien-human hybrid'?" He guessed. I raised an eyebrow and he chuckled. "Dani and Kaz - they haven't stopped bugging me since I told them."

I laughed, a part of me wondering who asked which question. "I was asking about marriage, but you know, come to think of it, has there ever been a baby born to a Calderan and a human? I don't remember Skylar mentioning."

"No, there hasn't. Calderan babies are usually...well, I guess you can call them test tube babies. This is definitely a first." He glanced at the stairs to make sure Skylar wasn't coming down them as he spoke. "Which is why I'm going to wait until she's a little less stressed about the idea to propose." He continued. "Besides, do you know how many Calderan marriage rituals I have to memorize just to ask her? For God's sake, it's a four word question."

"Calderans are biologically closer to human than almost any other alien species that we know of. Surely there can't be that much risk?" I mentioned. He shook his head.

"We're not worried about him so much health-wise - Horace thinks that he'll have an unusually strong immune system, actually. I'm more concerned about what he'll be able to do." Oliver explained. He shrugged. "He could end up having crazy powers, and I'm not sure if we know how to handle that. I mean, what if he starts creating space portals when he's two?"

"Please, let's not talk about babies with powers." I said with a grimace. He gave me a sympathetic look.

"Emily showing signs of super powers?" He guessed. I shook my head.

"Not yet, thank God, but the possibility is always going to be there." I place my hands over my face, then looked between the fingers. "I don't think I'm going to stop worrying about this until she's a teenager."

"Well, at least it's only a possibility for you." Oliver pointed out. "It's not an 'if' he gets powers, it's a 'what' powers will he have."

I smiled at him, understanding his worry. "So, 'he'. You guys already know the gender?"

"No, but someone's hoping for a boy." Skylar teased, taking a seat next to me. She gave Oliver a look. "I don't understand why you're so dead set on a boy. Won't you will love them either way?"

"Of course I will. But boys are easier. Girls are more difficult." He pointed out. Skylar frowned.

"Where did you hear that?" She questioned. Oliver paused.

"My mom, Kaz's mom, Mr. Davenport..." He listed. I glanced at Skylar.

"I lied to my mom for 4 years about my boyfriend having bionic abilities, then left to live on a private island with him a few months later before I'd even graduated high school. The worst thing Jaden ever did was get a speeding ticket." I pointed out. She cocked her head a little, acknowledging my point.

"Still, let's try not to hope for one more than the other, okay?" Skylar mentioned. Oliver sighed dramatically.

"Fine." He agreed, craning his neck to kiss her over the counter.

"Your food is burning." I pointed out, breaking up the kiss. Making a frustrated noise, Oliver ran back to the stove to continue stirring our dinner. I laughed, amused.

"What's so funny?" Chase questioned, walking down the stairs, Emily tucked away in his arms.

"Oliver made me stop cooking because I'm apparently bad at it, but then he burned the food." I pointed out, reaching out for my baby. Chase handed her over to me.

"Well, that's not nice of him." He commented, kissing me on the forehead. I smiled, choosing to ignore the fist bump he tried to secretly give Oliver.

"Hey, so who were you on the phone with?" Skylar asked curiously. Chase looked at her. "I overheard you talking to someone while you were changing Emily's diaper, and I don't think you were telling a three-month-old about taking a trip to New York."

"Oh, did Jess set up a meeting?" I asked, excited. Chase nodded.

"The first ever meeting of the Extraordinary Peoples Coalition is going to take place at the UN Headquarters in a month's time." He said proudly, leaning on the counter. He shook his head in amazement. "Over 250 representatives will be there, including aliens from 32 different planets. Nice job on getting the word out, by the way." He added, nodding to Skylar. She shrugged.

"It wasn't hard - there are a lot of species that have heroes working around the galaxy, including on Earth. It just makes sense for them to be working with the government rather than risk getting probed."

"Has that ever actually happened?" I asked, wondering. Skylar opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted when the door to the Penthouse opened.

"Guess who we ran into on the street?" Bree announced as she, Noah, and Jaden walked in. Before anyone could ask who she meant, Kaz and Dani followed them into the room.

"I thought you weren't getting in for another hour." Oliver smiled, walking over to give his best friend and his sister a hug.

"Yeah, well, it looked like Liv was about to hand out assignments, so we decided to leave early." Kaz explained.

"Someone still isn't used to Alivia telling him what to do." Dani explained, placing her bag on the ground by the couch before coming over to give us hugs as well.

"She's bossy." Kaz complained.

"She's your boss." Chase pointed out incredulously. Kaz rolled his eyes.

"She could still be less bossy." He pointed out. Chase opened his mouth to argue, but I raised a hand, stopping him.

"It's not worth it." I told him with an amused sigh.

** Dani's POV **

"I can't believe you proposed on the top of the Eiffel Tower." Bree shook her head in amazement as she stared at the ring on my finger. Our dinner plates were scattered around the living room, all of us relaxing with coffee and cake that Jaden had made. She looked up at Kaz, wide-eyed. "That is literally the most romantic place on Earth."

"I know. My sisters made me watch a lot of rom-coms with them growing up." Kaz nodded seriously. I smiled at him.

"You, Kaz, are a secret romantic. I'm surprised." Calla complimented, shaking her head at him. "Is there a more romantic way to ask someone to marry you?"

Chase looked at her, brow furrowed in confusion. "I made you dinner…in the place where we first kissed…surrounded by flower petals…from the flower you were named after."

"Yes, but this is  _Paris_ , Chase." Calla said in exasperation. He stared at her and she smiled before kissing him on the cheek to reassure him that she was joking.

"Yeah Chase, it's  _Paris_." Kaz teased. I hit him lightly, though I had to say, the annoyance on Chase's face was quite amusing.

"So, no AJ?" I asked, changing the subject. I'd noticed that the kid hadn't come to greet us when we came in.

"I don't know how they managed it, but Spin, Daniel, and Bob managed to convince Douglas and Davenport to take a bunch of bionic kids to the new EPC building in New York." Chase explained. I nodded, understanding why Davenport would agree. The creation of the Extraordinary Peoples Coalition was the biggest event in superhero and bionic hero history to happen since the Mighty Med Massacre, so it made sense that the kids would want to see the new building with their own eyes. "AJ wanted to go, and we figured it would probably be a good idea for him to spend time with kids his own age."

"And you want those people to be Spin, Daniel, and Bob?" Bree questioned.

"Why not?" Calla questioned, confused. "I mean, sure, Spin's got his anger issues, and Daniel does occasionally get arrested, and Bob..." She trailed off, then stood up. "You know, saying this out loud is starting to make it seem like not such a good idea, so I'm just going to go call and check in."

She gently lowered Emily into Chase's arms, grabbed her phone, and left the room before he could stop her. Emily let out a happy noise, to which Chase smile. He glanced at us before adjusting the blanket she was swaddled in. "I've already got Rio keeping an eye on them." He explained to reassure us.

"Got it." Bree nodded, smirking a little.

"So, how's Jess doing with setting up the coalition?" I asked, curious. I knew that some people had been asked to be representatives in it - Rani and Alivia among them - but other than that, we still didn't know much about how it was progressing.

"We're set to have our first meeting in a month." Chase explained.

"Jessica and Miles must be crazy busy, between that and rebuilding S.H.I.R.T." Ollie commented. Chase nodded.

"Oh yeah. They let most of S.H.I.R.T.'s agents go - most of whom are now being investigated by the government for various crimes - and they're hiring a lot of new people. Some of Miles' old friends at UPSEI are helping him out with the process, but it's still going to take time before S.H.I.R.T. is what Jessica and Miles originally thought it was going to be." Chase explained.

"At least it won't be run by super-powered psychopaths this time." Kaz commented.

"I can drink to that." Jaden agreed. Bree laughed a little.

"Hey, Jess and Miles...they're dating, right? I'm not imagining that?" She questioned.

"Oh, there's definitely something going on, that's for sure." Calla agreed, coming back into the room. She sat down between Chase and Noah, who was currently playing with his feet with so much focus, it was like he'd never seen them before in his life. "Jess won't tell me what's going on, but something's going on. If they're not together yet, they will be by the end of month, guaranteed." She glanced at Chase. "Rio says the boys are fine."

"I'm pretty sure they don't need a babysitter." Kaz pointed out.

"You've never seen all four of them together." Jaden replied, taking a drink. He opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off by a text alert from his phone. He glanced at it, then sent a quick reply.

"Uncle Tyler." He said to Bree when she gave him a quizzical look.

"Faith's dad?" Ollie guessed. Thankfully, Calla shook her head.

"No, that would be Uncle David, who isn't exactly thrilled with us for throwing his little girl in jail. Which is stupid, because she's crazy." Calla shrugged. "Uncle Tyler comes from Mom's side." She glanced at her brother. "So? Did you get it?"

"Get what?" Kaz asked, confused. Jaden sent Calla a look - apparently, whatever this was about, he wasn't planning on saying anything about it - then sighed.

"He offered me a job at his restaurant." He explained. Bree beamed.

"Not just any restaurant. It's a 5-star Italian restaurant." She bragged. "His uncle opened it up in LA last year, and it's already been rated one of the best in the city." She kissed Jaden on the cheek. "I told you he was going to give it to you."

"Congrats." Skylar told the older boy. I smiled, a little confused.

"Yeah, congratulations, but did you say LA? As in Los Angelos...in California?"

"Yeah. It's just such an amazing opportunity - he'd be an idiot to turn it down." Bree replied. Jaden smiled at her and took her hand.

"Besides, it'll be nice to closer to home. Mission Creek would only be a few hours away." He added.

"And there's a few amazing museums in the area that I can apply to. My boss, Cheryl, has already written me an amazing reference letter, so I'm sure to get a good job." Bree continued.

"Best of luck then." I held my cup out towards them, then couldn't help but laugh when it was Noah who tried to clink glasses with me, his sippy cup hitting the coffee mug so hard that I almost dropped it.

"Careful, bug." Bree ran her hand over his head, smiling.

"You excited to go to LA, kid?" Kaz smiled at the kid. Noah laughed.

"Lay! Lay!" He laughed. Kaz stopped, then looked at Jaden and Bree with a sheepish grin.

"Please tell me his first word wasn't 'lay', because that'll be hilarious to make fun of him for it when he's older." He told them. Bree sighed.

"No, no. You want to hear his first word?" She asked. She turned to her son. "Hey, honey, what's my name?"

Noah just stared at her. Jaden smiled at him. "Who's this, buddy?" He tried, pointing at Bree. Noah flashed them a toothy grin.

"Moo-may!" He clapped. Kaz nearly choked on his drink, he laughed so hard.

"Yeah." Bree nodded. She tried to look annoyed at the nickname, but I could tell that she was pleased that her name, although butchered, had been Noah's first word.

"Wait a minute." Something occurred to me just then. Or maybe, I already knew it, and it was just hitting me for the first time. Either way, I felt my heartstrings tug painfully. "If Kaz and I are going to New York with the NLH, and Ollie and Skylar are going to Caldera, and you guys are going to California, that means..."

"The team is done." Chase said solemnly, staring at his drink. The room went quiet as we all considered it. I mean, we all knew it was coming. It had been coming for a long time, I thought. We'd been a good team, but things like this weren't meant to last forever, no matter how much we wished they would. We'd all known that one day, we'd all leave. I just guess that none of us expected it to be so soon.

"This was always supposed to be temporary, guys." Skylar said slowly, swallowing thickly. I watched as Ollie took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Hell, I mean, I never even intended to stay on Earth once I got my powers back, and that was years ago."

"Almost five years." Ollie added, smiling sadly. He shook his head. "I can't believe it's been five years since Davenport brought us all together."

"I can't believe I've been living with you weirdos for five years." Calla joked. Chase elbowed her gently, and she rolled her eyes. "Hey, I said you guys were weird, not that I didn't love every single second of it."

"I think what CeeCee is trying to say is that she's going to miss all of us." Jaden chuckled. Calla nodded her agreement. "I know I am."

"We'll keep in touch." Kaz reasoned. He raised his head. "We have to promise that. No matter what state, country...planet," he sent my brother a sideways smirk, "we end up on, we stay in touch."

"Definitely." Bree nodded in agreement. She was biting her lip a little, her eyes slightly watery. "It's not like we won't have phones or email or anything. We should let the distance break us up."

"Guys." I cleared my throat, looking at them imploringly. "The team isn't done. We're just...getting some space. I mean, if we need each other, are you really telling me that there's any one of us that wouldn't drop everything to come help?"

"Dani's right." Chase agreed, standing up. "We're still friends, and we're still heroes, no matter where we go. And if the world needs us, we'll be there, every time. So this isn't goodbye, it's just..."

"See you at the next world threatening disaster." Calla suggested. Chase smiled at her.

"See you at the next world threatening disaster." He repeated, smirking. He looked back at us. "We're still a team, even if we aren't together. Alright?"

"Agreed." Skylar nodded. I could see the others smiling, liking what he said. He held up his coffee mug.

"To the Elite Force." He toasted.

"To the Elite Force." We all said in unison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Say goodbye to the members of the Elite Force and their friends in the tribute story, End of an Era.


End file.
